Vincit Qui Patitur
by Quatermass
Summary: (AU) Outcasts call to outcasts. At the age of ten, after his abortive Pilgrimage, Seymour is saved from a shipwreck by the Al Bhed. Now, eighteen years later, Seymour is thought dead by Spira...but is the lone Summoner amongst the Al Bhed. During a salvage expedition to Baaj Temple, he encounters Tidus, beginning a quest that will intersect with Yuna's... (Not slash)
1. Foreword

**FOREWORD**

I have said time and again that I do not take suggestions for stories. The few times I do are exceptions rather than the rule. What inspired this story was an offhand remark by one of my most frequent reviewers, Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros, who, while reviewing my Harry Potter/ _Final Fantasy X_ crossover, _Cycle of Sin_ , voiced his opinion that Seymour would not have become a villain had circumstances turned out to be different.

This struck a chord with me, because with _Cycle of Sin_ , I actually could write Seymour as a somewhat more nuanced character than he is portrayed in the game. He's something of a tragic villain, despite his being a smug nihilistic nutjob in the game. And the thought of Seymour becoming a hero, if circumstances were different, is oddly appealing. Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros' original suggestion, of Naruto somehow ending up in Spira and becoming Seymour's big brother or father figure, didn't appeal to me, and neither did doing any other similar crossover.

But what of Seymour ending up with the Al Bhed? This idea appealed to me, not just because I wrote Harry and Sirius doing so in _Cycle of Sin_ , but because a similar thing happens to Tidus in the excellent fanfic _Al Bhed Blue_ by Scottie2. Plus, given how Seymour and his mother were exiled from Guadosalam, I thought Seymour, after a shaky start, would fit in well with the Al Bhed, who are outcasts as much as he was in his childhood. _Al Bhed Blue_ also pointed out something I didn't think of in canon, that Summoners are lacking at Bikanel, and that the Al Bhed's dead are doomed to become Fiends because they aren't Sent. Quite a bit is owed to _Al Bhed Blue_ , for both some aspects of the plot. The same too goes for _Anima's Sister_ by rattlesnakedefender, which gives Seymour a more heroic nature. I recommend both fanfics, particularly _Al Bhed Blue_ , which has recently been completed.

The title of this fic, by the way, means roughly 'The one who conquers is the one who endures'. It sums up the attitudes of a lot of characters in the story of _Final Fantasy X_ , as well as that of Seymour in this one.

Anyway, onto my disclaimers. Firstly, there WILL be spoilers for _Final Fantasy X_. This is your only warning.

Secondly, there will be a lot of annotations, as is usual for my work. You don't like that? Then don't read this fanfic. I don't want ANY bellyaching.

Thirdly, this is an M-rated work. Violence, dark themes, language, and sexual references will happen. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. _Final Fantasy X_ is the property of Square Enix, and all other rights owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, you'll be thrown into the Via Purifico for your insolence…


	2. Chapter 1: The Summoner of the Al Bhed

**CHAPTER 1:**

 **THE SUMMONER OF THE AL BHED**

 _The blue-haired boy clung to the side of the small boat as it bucked like a maddened Chocobo on the waves. The tempest seemed like his punishment for his cowardice, of faltering at the last hurdle. Of not having the courage to honour his mother's sacrifice, and defeat the monster plaguing his world._

 _But how could he save a world that didn't believe in him? His mother was the only one who had, who had cared for him. And it was her illness that drove her to sacrifice herself. She also had expected him to do so, but at least she cared for him. But the rest of the world? They would care less if he had died. All the better if he had died in some glorious battle against the harbinger that plagued the world: they would rejoice, for two abominations would die for the price of one._

 _He understood with more clarity than a child his age, of ten years, should possess. Only his mother loved him for what he was. Everyone else considered him an aberration._

 _Suddenly, the boat surged up the crest of a massive wave, and when it crashed down, the already-abused vessel shattered. The boy clung for dear life onto one of the larger fragments, and watched dispassionately as the others flailed and thrashed, trying in vain to keep their heads above the water. In his grief for his mother, and his anger at the world, he felt glad that they drowned._

 _What felt like an eternity passed, and then, so did the storm. The boy clung to his shard of wreckage like a limpet, cold and fatigued. He didn't know why he was bothering to stay alive. Only instinct, base animal instinct, kept him from letting go of his impromptu life-raft and slipping into the depths of the ocean to die._

 _Then, an unlikely salvation. A ship drew up as dawn began to break. The boy looked up with his purple eyes, now rimmed with red from fatigue and grief, and groaned. It was a machina ship, crewed by the Al Bhed. The heathen machina-users. And, if what he heard was true, slavers and pirates._

 _He slumped onto the wreckage, and only distantly felt something hauling him up, out of the water, and onto a hard floor of metal. He heard one of the heathens say in their rough tongue,_ "Fyrd ec drec? Ec dryd y Guado lremt?"

"E's hud cina," _another voice, a gruff one, opined_. "Drana fana nisuinic dra Guado Maester aqemat rec mujan yht lremet du Baaj. Ec drec dra lremt?"

 _A scoff, and the tone of voice from this next speaker left the boy in no doubt as to what he wanted, even if he didn't understand Al Bhed_. "Ra'c fedr Yevon yhofo. E cyo fa ducc res ujanpuynt yht mad dra cryngc ryja res."

 _"Then do it," the boy groaned, only barely conscious. "Kill me. I've nothing left."_

 _Silence for a time, and then, the second voice spoke up_. "Y puo fru fecrac du tea? Dryd ech'd nekrd yd ymm." _In Spiran Common, the voice said, "Kid, we ain't gonna kill you. Why do you want to die? Hell, you're only, what, nine? Ten?"_

 _"Doesn't matter. I've…disgraced my family. I've dishonoured my mother's sacrifice. I will never go back home. My father doesn't want his reputation besmirched."_

 _"Lemme guess, he's Maester Jyscal Guado?"_

 _Unwillingly, the boy opened his eyes, and looked at the Al Bhed speaking to him. He was a burly, muscled bear of a man with dark hair (unusual for an Al Bhed, as they usually had fair hair), a goatee, and the distinctive green eyes with spiral-shaped pupils. Despite his intimidating stature and the commanding presence he had, there was pity in those eyes._

 _Pity, from an Al Bhed? He didn't want that pity. Nonetheless, the boy said, "Yes, but he would deny it to his very grave. And to mine."_

 _"Hey, kid, don't think like that. Anyway, the name's Cid. What's yours?"_

 _For a moment, the boy wanted to remain silent, or insult Cid. But when the moment passed, he eventually spoke his name, albeit in a quiet tone of self-loathing no child should ever have._

 _"My name is Seymour Guado."_

* * *

Eighteen years later, Seymour looked out across the ocean at Baaj Temple, once more blanketed by a storm, albeit not as bad as the one that had lashed his boat nearly two decades before. He had mixed feelings about coming back here.

Now a man of 28 years, Seymour was tall and broad-shouldered, concealed albeit in the clothing of the Al Bhed. There was no concealing the explosion of sky-blue hair, though, with a trinity of antennae of hair emerging. His face was handsome, albeit marred by the blue markings many mistook for veins across his forehead. An elaborate staff, one of the few things from his past, was attached to his back. His hands were long and elegant, his fingernails not unlike claws.

As his purple eyes gazed upon the ruins of Baaj, the slight and slender figure of a girl he considered to be like a younger sister walked up. Rikku wore a combination of wetsuit and armour whenever she was on missions that would require a lot of swimming. She also wore a helmet-like piece of headgear, albeit one that only slightly concealed her mop of blonde hair, along with goggles over her eyes. "Like coming home, isn't it?" Rikku asked.

Seymour scoffed gently. "This is not home. Only Home is home. This is merely the skeletal carcass of a residence filled with mostly bad memories and revenants. We won't be staying long?"

"Just long enough to pick up anything useful we can find before we start searching for the airship," Rikku said. "Between that and the preparations for Operation Mi'ihen…"

Seymour scoffed again. "Yevon will use the failure of Operation Mi'ihen as propaganda. _Behold the folly of those who contravene our teachings, even with the best of intentions_ , they will say. They're setting up the Crusaders and the Al Bhed to fail."

"Do you think they will sabotage it?" Rikku asked.

"I don't think they will have to," Seymour remarked. "Even I am doubtful of the plan's success. Sin, after all, is a formidable opponent. All the same, I am sure that we will have to be vigilant, in case Yevon does decide to hamper our chances."

Brother approached. In Al Bhed, the Mohawk-wearing Al Bhed said, " _Rikku, Seymour, we'll be there soon. Keep an eye out for Fiends. Our new sensors are picking up quite a bit of movement in Baaj._ "

" _Don't worry, Brother_ ," Seymour said calmly, smiling his little smile. " _Rikku is one of the best fighters of your people. And I am the Al Bhed's Summoner. Should there be a Fiend in there that could best us, then is the time to worry._ "

* * *

Thankfully, most of the Fiends were pretty weak. And it was clear that Baaj had been abandoned long ago. Seymour felt little more than disdain for the place. The only happy memories he had here were with his mother, and he had brought his mother (well, her Fayth) back from her repose in Zanarkand, and installed the Fayth of Anima at Home. Most Al Bhed didn't like having a Fayth at Home, but Cid considered the irony actually quite funny. Seymour had done the same with Yojimbo's Fayth, having found that one in a cave near the Calm Lands. He couldn't shift that of the Magus Sisters, but he had them at his beck and call now as well.

As they came to the now-stuck door leading to the grand hall of Baaj Temple, and the Al Bhed began setting charges to open it, Rikku frowned. And shortly thereafter, so too did Seymour. He could hear what sounded like a fight to the death. Sounded like a young man was fighting against…something. Some sort of Fiend.

Rikku and Seymour looked at each other, and then as the charges were set, and they backed away to a safe distance, they readied themselves, with Seymour taking his staff from his back, and Rikku checking her fighting claws. Then, after the charges blew, they marched in, along with their squad.

The source of the sounds they had heard was soon apparent when the dust cleared. A teenaged boy, maybe a couple of years Rikku's senior, was fending off a Klikk with a sword. He had a messy mop of blonde hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in dark blue clothing with yellow shoulders and sleeves, some sort of Blitzball uniform judging by the design. An amulet with a vaguely familiar emblem hung around the boy's neck.

Rikku and Seymour looked at each other, before they gestured for the others to stay back. And with that, they joined the teenager in fighting the Fiend.

Between the teenager's skill, Rikku's careful usage of grenades, and Seymour using Black Magic, the Klikk soon died, dissolving into Pyreflies with a screech of agony. The teenager shook his head, and murmured, "That was close."

Seymour noticed one of his comrades about to grab the boy in a hold, believing the teenager may be a Fiend transformed into a human, so he held up a hand. " _Wait, please_ ," he said in Al Bhed, before he gently sniffed him. The Guado were, after all, keenly sensitive to the smell of Pyreflies and the Farplane. Eventually, he said, " _He's no Fiend or Unsent._ " But there was something else he couldn't quite discern. He then noticed the amulet around the teenager's neck. Now he recognised the symbol. Who wouldn't, if they had seen pictures of Sir Jecht, the Guardian of High Summoner Lord Braska? And Seymour has also seen that symbol as well, albeit broken and decayed, in the ruins of Zanarkand. In Spiran Common, he asked, "Who are you? And where do you come from?"

"Me? I'm Tidus, star player of the Zanarkand Abes," the teenager said, pride mingling with exhaustion. He seemed like he was cold and hungry.

The main reason why Seymour didn't immediately write that off as some delusion caused by Sin's infamous mind-altering toxin was that he didn't smell of said toxin. That, and Jecht had claimed the same thing a decade ago. Amongst other reasons. Seymour peered at Tidus closely, before saying, "You are a very long way away from home, Tidus. And a thousand years too late to play Blitzball at Zanarkand. The city was destroyed long ago."

The look of shock on his face seemed genuine enough, so he certainly wasn't lying. Not that anyone would use so stupid and bold a lie, unless they were stupid or insane. Then again, Seymour couldn't quite rule out the latter, despite the lucidity of Tidus' expressions.

As Tidus continued to gape, Seymour said, "We are at Baaj Temple, not far from the Besaid Islands. We are, more or less, on the other side of the world from Zanarkand."

"Did Sin take me here?" Tidus mused, more to himself, but his words were heard by everyone present.

"Did you encounter Sin, Tidus?" Rikku asked.

"Yeah, Sin destroyed Zanarkand, and I was with Auron, and, well, I ended up here."

Now this was interesting. Seymour frowned. "This 'Auron'. Please describe him."

"Dresses in red, wears dark glasses, wields a big sword, speaks all enigmatic," Tidus said.

"Dark-haired? Has a jug hanging from his waist, and black armour under his coat?" Seymour asked.

"Well, he's greying, but yes. You know him?"

"I know of him. I have met him only a couple of times," Seymour said. "Alas, nobody knows of his whereabouts."

"Great," Tidus said.

" _Seymour, we're wasting time_ ," one of the other Al Bhed said.

" _If he is a Blitzball player, he may be of use during the salvage. Blitzball players are excellent freedivers, remember?_ " Seymour replied.

Rikku nodded. " _Got it._ " To Tidus, she said, "Hey, Tidus…this place is pretty far from civilisation. And we need help on some underwater salvage. You're a Blitzball player, right?" On his nod, Rikku said, "Well, come with us, okay?"

There was only some hesitation, before Tidus decided to throw his lot in with the Al Bhed. "Sure," he said with a resigned shrug. "Better than freezing or starving to death in this place."

* * *

Rikku and Seymour escorted the young Blitzball player back to the ship, while the rest of the team scoured Baaj Temple for anything useful. As they waited on the deck, Seymour asked, "Forgive me for asking, Tidus, but do you know of a man called Jecht?"

"My old man?!" Tidus yelped. Judging by his tone, while surprised, there was quite a bit of resentment and anger within those three syllables. Seymour felt a flash of empathy with the teenager. It also helped tie together part of his knowledge about Tidus. His response was not rehearsed, but spontaneous.

"Well, if your father had a tendency to walk around without a shirt, had a tattoo of that symbol on his chest," Seymour indicated the talisman hanging around Tidus' neck, "a red headband, and a rather sloppy beard and hairdo, then yes, that is Jecht."

"Sounds like my old man. Ego the size of a planet?"

"At first," Seymour said. "I only know of him, I have never met the man. But I have been remiss. I have not introduced myself. I am Seymour."

"And I'm Rikku," Rikku said with a grin. "Pleased to meetcha!"

Tidus grinned, a bit shakily. "Pleased to meetcha too," he said, rubbing the back of his head, before he then went back to something that was clearly bothering him. "What do you mean, Zanarkand was destroyed?"

"A thousand years ago," Rikku said. "Now it's a holy place to Yevon."

"Yevon?" If it was a sham, it was a good one. And if it was from Sin's toxin, then the toxin had left him long ago. It must've been a large dose. He looked utterly baffled. "Zanarkand, a holy place?" he asked sceptically.

"As far as Yevon is concerned," Rikku said. "You said you were near Sin, right?"

"Rikku," Seymour interjected quietly, "I cannot smell the toxin on him. If he is under its spell, then the toxin is long gone. Only its effects remain."

"Sorry, what do you mean?"

"Sin exudes a toxin that can alter or erase the memory," Seymour explained gently. "Guado are keen to certain scents, and while I am but half-Guado, I am keen to those scents regardless."

"Is that why you sniffed me earlier?"

"Indeed. Forgive my actions, but I needed to be sure you were not a Fiend or an Unsent. An Unsent is a kind of revenant, a once-dead person who has clung to this plane because they were not Sent. Although I pray that you do not see a Sending, the truth is that Spira sees a lot of these. Save for the times of the Calm, Sin is ever-present, along with its constant companion: Death." He could see that many of these terms were alien to Tidus.

"So, you guys are Guado?"

"No," Rikku chuckled. "I'm an Al Bhed. Seymour is half-human, half-Guado. However, he is pretty much an Al Bhed by our standards, despite his father and his job."

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of an Al Bhed or a Guado," Tidus said apologetically. "I guess if Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago, then I've got a lot of catching up to do."

Seymour couldn't help but agree. Still, his curiosity had been awoken by this strange teenager. So too had Rikku's. But he had to wonder, why did this teenager smell not unlike an Aeon?

 **CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Now, before you start wondering, no, this will not be Tidus/Seymour. I'm not into slash, and I wouldn't know how to write it well. I'm crap enough at writing normal romance. In all likelihood, the story will have a slow-burning Seymour/Yuna (though it will not come into play until later in the story, and the age difference will have to be addressed), as well as Tidus/Rikku. The reason why Seymour sniffs Tidus is because of what was mentioned above. The whole thing about Guado being able to smell Unsent is canon: witness Seymour's dialogue with Auron after Seymour proposes to Yuna.**

 **Luckily for you, no numbered annotations for now…**


	3. Chapter 2: Salvage and Sin

**CHAPTER 2:**

 **SALVAGE AND SIN**

As the boat ceased moving, Seymour considered the young man he was, nominally, guarding. While the others were bringing the salvage ship to its intended destination, he began teaching Tidus some vital points that he needed to know about the world he had found himself in. Namely, the state of affairs in Spira. He could only go briefly over the history of Spira, of Sin and the Summoners, as they were not far from their destination.

"So, what you're telling me is that Yevon, this religion, bans most forms of machinery, what you guys call machina?" Tidus asked. "And that this monster, Sin, is drawn to machina or big groups of people? And, supposedly, the only way of stopping it is the Final Aeon?"

Seymour nodded. "It is the duty of the Summoner to embark on a pilgrimage that will end with the Final Aeon…and that using the Final Aeon on Sin will ensure their demise. I have only told you the briefest of outlines of our history and culture. The truth is, the Al Bhed, whom I consider to be my people more than the Guado, are outcasts because they dare to use machina, even try to invent and innovate. Eighteen years ago, before I first joined them, I considered them heretics, even monsters. Now, they are friends and family. Leaving aside the Guado, I am aware that most Yevonites are truly good people, albeit mostly those outside Bevelle. Rikku's uncle, Lord Braska, was an outcast himself for marrying an Al Bhed, her aunt, but he was the most selfless of people. Most Summoners have to be. Alas…I did not share their fortitude. Of course, I was but a child at the time."

Rikku, who had just emerged with Brother, added, "They train them up to be martyrs, you know? Tidus, this is Brother. Now, we'll be doing a lot of freediving. Seymour isn't as good with that, so we need your help. Just follow my lead and help me make the necessary repairs. Oh, and keep an eye out for underwater Fiends."

* * *

While Tidus, Rikku, Brother and the others began their salvage work, Seymour considered the past eighteen years. Eighteen years since he fell into the hands of the Al Bhed. Eighteen years since he was all but made part of Cid's family, alongside Rikku and Brother. Eighteen years since he, effectively, became the sole Summoner living amongst the Al Bhed.

It was a rough journey, to be sure. After all, many Al Bhed viewed the higher-ups in Yevon with understandable suspicion, and Seymour was the son of Maester Jyscal Guado, after all. And the Guado and Al Bhed had a particular enmity, existing before the Yevon religion was widespread amongst the Guado. But the fact that he was a child, and had balked at completing the Pilgrimage, had helped smooth things over. One thing the Al Bhed hated was the Pilgrimage, and how the Summoners were sent to die, all for a few years of temporary peace known as the Calm. Even now, Sin had only returned only a few years ago.

Seymour cursed his cowardice, as well as his parents for putting him into this position. He was able to forgive his mother: her becoming an Aeon was brought about partly because she was dying(1), and she had hoped that Seymour defeating Sin would help bridge the gap between Guado and human. They had spoken later, once he retrieved her Fayth. And he was glad of it.

But despite her assurances, he would never forgive his father. Jyscal Guado had exiled them out of political expediency, to a desolate temple in a remote corner of Spira. Jyscal was trying to appease some of the more vocal Guado factions, but Seymour considered him a coward. They had not spoken since Seymour and his mother were exiled. Seymour intended not to: as far as he knew, Spira considered Seymour Guado dead. And Seymour shared that opinion: the boy he was was dead.

Although he had but one Aeon, he was surprisingly of use to the Al Bhed for a key reason: Summoners were taught how to Send. That is, using a special funerary ritual, with special magic only Summoners were taught, the souls of the dead were sent on to the Farplane and their eternal rest. Those that weren't Sent ran the risk of becoming Fiends, or worse, Unsent. There were some people who didn't need a Sending, who accepted their deaths, and thus moved on to the Farplane with no fuss. He envied those people who could be at peace with their own demise. It wasn't always the case in Spira, where violent death could come at any time, from Fiends or Sin, not to mention bandits.

In any case, until he came along, the Al Bhed were at risk of their own dead coming back as Fiends. Only very rarely did Unsent come along. Now, however, the amount of Fiends attacking Home had reduced. Bikanel Island still had plenty of strong Fiends, but they weren't as numerous as before. What's more, he could summon controllable Fiends from Pyreflies: all Guado had this ability, and it meant that he could help defend Home with Fiends, if necessary.

As he leaned against a railing, he took out a device the Al Bhed had salvaged from a pocket. It was a small, white box, from which a bifurcated wire seemed to run, until the wires ended in a pair of small circular shapes. He put these in his ears, and then fumbled a little with the controls on the box, before he could hear music. Harsh and discordant (the singer, for the most part, sounded like he was trying very hard to eject his own larynx through his mouth), and frankly, he preferred the solemn beauty of the Hymn of the Fayth (despite his alienation from Yevon), but there was no denying the power of the music.

 _Go, now, if you want it,_

 _Another world awaits you._

 _Don't you give up on it,_

 _You bite the hand that feeds you_.

 _All alone, cold fields you wander,_

 _Memories of it cloud your sight._

 _Fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber,_

 _Lost your way, a fallen knight_.

 _Hold now, aim is steady,_

 _Another world awaits you._

 _One thousand years, you ready?_

 _The otherworld, it takes you!_

 _Go, into the sand, and the dust, and the sky,_

 _Go now, there's no better plan than to do and to die,_

 _Free me, pray to the Fayth in the face of the light,_

 _Feed me, fill me with sin, and get ready to fight_.

The song itself came from Zanarkand in the past, Seymour was sure of it. From what he had read and heard of the official histories of Zanarkand, they had specialised in Summoning, even though their city was a machina-filled wonderland. Which meant they would have had Fayth, even before the destruction of the city.

A few songs later, he saw that Brother was emerging. He removed the earphones, and stopped the music player. " _Yes, Brother?_ "

" _The records were right!_ " Brother chuckled as he clambered out of the water. " _There's definitely an airship down there. We've got to figure out how to get the damned thing up first, though. That nut who thinks he's from Zanarkand does seem to know his way around the machina, though, I'll give him that. He did a few things without being told. Do you reckon his story's got any truth to it?_ "

" _I'm not sure where he comes from, whether it is from the past or another world where Zanarkand still exists, but he certainly believes so. I'll try and figure out our mystery man from Zanarkand, never fear_ ," Seymour reassured the Al Bhed. " _Should we show him some of the machina we haven't been able to figure out?_ "

" _Rikku had the same idea. I'll make sure he's let nowhere near the weapons._ "

Soon, Rikku and Tidus emerged. They were still wary of Tidus, so Seymour was instructed to keep him on the deck for the time being. Rikku would bring him food. As the door to the lower decks shut, Tidus scowled. "You'd think they don't trust me, that I did nothing to help!"

"The Al Bhed are slow to trust. While I had more leeway than you currently do, it took me some time to earn their favour," Seymour said soothingly. "Brother had proposed that we show you some of the machina we haven't been able to identify. We do not expect you to tell us how they work in a mechanical sense, but if you can tell us their function and how to activate them, I am sure they will be a little more friendly. Keep in mind that most machina have been banned, and many records lost to the mists of time. Not only that, but the Al Bhed are spat upon for defying Yevon. Some understandably have a somewhat bitter attitude to outsiders."

"Sounds great," Tidus remarked sarcastically. After a moment, he asked, "What happened to my father?"

"Sir Jecht disappeared ten years ago."

"SIR Jecht?!" Tidus yelped incredulously.

"Indeed. He was one of Lord Braska's Guardians, the other being Sir Auron. 'Sir' is a courtesy honorific given to all Guardians whose Summoner completes their Pilgrimage. Sir Jecht appeared in Bevelle a decade ago, claiming to be from Zanarkand and heavily drunk. He was locked up as a drunken lunatic. It was Lord Braska who released him, deciding to take him on as a Guardian. Braska had something of a sense of irony: he himself had been disgraced for marrying an Al Bhed and siring a child with one, Yuna. Auron was a Warrior Monk who had refused to go through with a political marriage, and was thus disgraced. Braska believed that defeating Sin with such motley company would be a slap in the face to Yevon. Of course, Yevon merely hushed those parts up when they all but deified Braska when he defeated Sin."

"My dad, a hero?" Tidus scoffed, clearly disbelieving.

"Of a sort. From what I have heard from less-biased sources, he did gradually become a better man. You clearly disagree. If it is any consolation, Tidus, I too know what it is like to have a father who inspires little more than loathing within me."

Before Tidus could reply, Rikku emerged, with a tray of food. Tidus fell upon it and started eating ravenously, only to start choking. Rikku thumped his back, and chided, laughing a little as she did so, "You're eating too fast!"

"Sorry," Tidus said, once he stopped choking. "Haven't had food in a long time." Once he finished, Tidus looked at them both. "So, where to from here?"

"Once the airship is salvaged, then we take it to Home," Seymour said. "And from there, we shall later go to Luca."

"There's a Blitzball tournament happening soon, in honour of the fiftieth year of Grand Maester Mika's term," Rikku explained.

"Antiquated and antediluvian he may be, but he still enjoys Blitzball," Seymour said.

"If there's anyone there who might recognise you, it'll be at Luca," Rikku concluded. "Come on, let's get started…"

* * *

When they showed Tidus the box of devices in the ship's workshop, they didn't expect him to pull one out straight away as if recognising it. He showed that it was a voice-activated shaver(2). To Brother and Rikku's mounting excitement, he began identifying more and more devices, and even managed to get some of them to work. Brother chuckled as he cradled one device, which turned out to be an ancient communications device that could take pictures. He even took a picture of himself.

Their work was interrupted when the boat suddenly lurched and rocked. Brother took a radio from his coveralls, and barked, " _What the hell is going on?!_ " When he got the answer, he paled. Putting it away, he snapped, " _Stay here! Sin is beneath us!_ "

As Brother rushed out, Tidus, holding onto a bench, yelled, "What did he say? Did he say Sin is here?!"

"Your grasp of the obvious astonishes me, Tidus," Seymour said, more calmly than he felt. "Hang on!"

The salvage ship sailed away, the salvage of the airship delayed for the time being. What mattered was getting the hell away from Sin. Seymour emitted a few choice Guado expletives as the ship rocked and swayed. After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality but a few minutes, they managed to get away from Sin. Either it felt like looking for easier prey, or else got bored. Though who knew what went through the mind of a massive hellbeast that killed almost everything it encountered?

As the buffeting subsided for the moment, Tidus looked at them both and murmured, "This world's screwed up."

Rikku chuckled, a little shakily. "Tidus, you have NO idea…"

 **CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Tidus is staying with the Al Bhed. And Seymour listens to a music player. By the way, I obviously don't own** ** _Otherworld_** **, which is the song he listens to. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, with lyrics by Alexander O Smith and vocalised by Bill Muir.**

 **1\. This is on the Final Fantasy Wiki. Seymour's mother being terminally ill is never stated outright in the game, but was revealed in the Ultimania Guide for the game.**

 **2\. In** ** _Al Bhed Blue_** **, this is the same sort of device Tidus identifies first-off. It's a good fanfic, and I do recommend it.**


	4. Chapter 3: Abducting Yuna

**CHAPTER 3:**

 **ABDUCTING YUNA**

 _Three weeks later…_

Seymour had to admit to being nervous. After all, here they were, back in Luca, where he could very well be recognised. But they needed to deal with an increasingly-pressing issue. Namely, Cid's plan to start intercepting the Summoners and prevent them from making their Pilgrimage. And his main target was his niece, and Rikku's cousin, Yuna.

In case he was recognised, Seymour was sitting, along with Tidus, in a lounge area of the Al Bhed ship, monitoring sphere transmissions. According to reports, Yuna and her Guardians were due to arrive from Killika Island before long. And at about the same time as Mika was too. Rikku was supervising the offloading of cargo. Tidus was to help the Al Bhed Psyches with their Blitzball match when it came about: in training, the teenager proved to be a natural, even pulling off a move that was apparently one of his father's.

The journey back to Home had been spent bringing Tidus up to speed on the details of the history of Spira, as well as the Al Bhed and Home. Tidus certainly seemed interested in listening to anything regarding Jecht and Auron, as much as he hated his father. In exchange, he had told Seymour and Rikku about his life in Zanarkand. It was certainly very detailed if it was a delusion, and filled with no contradictions, though he seemed to have no knowledge of Summoners, Yu Yevon, or Yunalesca. Seymour was amused to learn from Tidus that the gesture used as a benediction or a prayer to Yevon was, apparently, a cheering gesture from Blitzball. Spectators did it as a sign of good luck, or to celebrate a goal. Whatever Tidus was, and wherever he came from, however, he was here now.

Tidus also had this marvellous righteous indignation at the Summoners throwing their lives away on their Pilgrimages. He certainly didn't judge Seymour for faltering at the final stage, something Seymour was grateful for. He did admire the Fayth, though, for sacrificing their lives to create the Aeons, something Seymour did share to a degree. After all, his mother had done so too. Indeed, Seymour had brought Tidus to meet his mother, to show Tidus what becoming a Fayth entailed.

So, handy in a fight, with no prejudice against machina or the Al Bhed, and thoroughly opposed to Summoners throwing away their lives. Tidus was gaining a place amongst the Al Bhed, especially as he could identify more machina they normally couldn't. Which he did, when he was let loose in some of the storerooms under supervision. In fact, Seymour was amused to see that his adoptive sister and Tidus were becoming fast friends, much to the annoyance of Brother and the ambivalence of Cid. All of which led to this point.

They were on a broadcast of Mika's arrival when Seymour saw who he was looking for. He was able to freeze the live feed, and pointed. "There is Lady Yuna and her Guardians. We have a spy on Besaid Island who gave us images and descriptions. The one who looks like a rooster in yellow coveralls is Wakka, the Captain of the Besaid Aurochs. He's a fairly skilled Blitzball player by all accounts, though the same cannot be said about the rest of his team. The Ronso with the broken horn is Kimahri. I have met him once, at about the same time I met Sir Auron. Sir Auron charged him with looking after Yuna, and taking her from Bevelle to Besaid."

"He looks strong."

"All Ronso are. He would be considered weak and without honour by Ronso standards given his broken horn. He is short by their standards too. But make no mistake: he is neither weak or without honour, and he will probably tear you apart if he thinks you are a threat to Yuna. The young woman in the black dress that is in continual danger of exposing her breasts for all the world to see is Lulu. Lulu is a former Guardian to at least two Summoners. Lady Ginnem died in a remote cave near the Calm Lands, while Father Zuke faltered when he came to the Calm Lands. Lulu is not only an experienced Guardian, but a powerful Black Mage. She is also an older sister figure to Yuna."

"And that one," Tidus said, pointing to a brown-haired woman about his age, dressed in vaguely priestess-like clothing. "Is that Yuna?"

"Indeed." Seymour looked at the young woman. So naïve, and yet so determined to relieve the ills of Spira. So beautiful, and yet filled with a strength of spirit Seymour envied. For a moment, his gaze lingered on her face, before he unpaused the live feed, bringing it back to what was happening now. The camera was showing Grand Maester Yo Mika, a bent-over old man who nonetheless radiated gravitas and dignity. "This is Grand Maester Mika, and he has been Grand Maester for fifty years now."

"Shouldn't he be retired?"

Seymour chuckled. "Sadly, he seems resistant to that. Many of his policies are actually quite liberal. Well, save to the Al Bhed." He then scowled, his mood changing as if a switch had been flipped, as a familiar figure appeared. One with thick, almost arboreal strands of blue hair and a beard. "And there is Maester Jyscal Guado. My sperm donor."

Tidus chuckled slightly, until he saw the venom on Seymour's face. Not directed at the young Blitzball player, but Tidus all but recoiled all the same. "Sorry."

"The offence is all his," Seymour said coldly. "If your father is the same man who ended up in Spira, then at least he did not abandon you willingly. Whereas Jyscal Guado exiled my mother and I, and left us to rot. He may be a decent leader to his people, but as a father, he is somewhat less successful. I cannot tell you how gladdened I was when rumours spread some years ago of his death, only to have that good cheer quashed when he turned out to be alive." He sighed. "Rikku and Brother even baked me a cake, with the words 'CONGRATULATIONS: YOUR FATHER IS DEAD' on it. It was a good cake too. Brother's quite the talented cook, though you wouldn't know it to look at him."

"Wow. You must hate him."

"Tell me, Tidus, have you ever considered patricide? Killing your own father? And I mean more than hollow words filled with rage. I meant actually planning it in detail." Noticing Tidus shaking his head, Seymour said, "I have. I've never gone through with it, but if I ever had the opportunity to get away with it…"

"…You're pretty scary, you know that?" Tidus asked.

"I am a Summoner and a mage of considerable power. Fear is an appropriate response." Seymour shook his head. "However, I will not jeopardise the retrieval of Yuna." Syemour looked at a watch. "I think it's nearly time for you to head to the game, Tidus. You'll leave with the Al Bhed Psyches. Rikku and I shall depart when Yuna is brought on board."

* * *

About half an hour afterwards, Tidus having already departed for the game, Rikku led a semiconscious Yuna, muttering in Al Bhed, " _Those idiots!_ "

" _What's the matter, Rikku?_ " Seymour asked.

" _After we snatched Yunie, the Psyches basically told the Aurochs and Yunie's Guardians that the Aurochs should throw the game in exchange for her safety!_ " Rikku scowled.

" _Huh. Well, that's demonstrating rather poor sportsmanship, not to mention even poorer judgement_ ," Seymour remarked. " _What do we do?_ "

" _I'm contacting Father_ ," Rikku said, gently helping Yuna to a chair. " _But her Guardians will be on their way. Keep an eye on Yunie, okay?_ "

As Rikku left, Yuna blinked away the daze, presumably from some drugged concoction she had been given. She was actually more beautiful in person than she was on a sphere screen, Seymour thought. Her light brown hair framed a heart-shaped face, and she had heterochromia, different eye colours, one the green of her Al Bhed heritage (minus the spiral pupil), the other blue. She focused on him, and frowned. "What's a Guado doing with the Al Bhed?"

"I consider myself a Guado no longer," Seymour said. "I consider myself kin and kindred to the Al Bhed, despite no ties of blood. Forgive me, Lady Yuna, but this is where your Pilgrimage will end. The Al Bhed will not idly stand by and allow the Summoners to throw their lives away on a futile suicide course."

"To relieve the suffering of the people of Spira is not futile!" Yuna retorted.

For a moment, Seymour was struck by the strength of the resolve in her eyes. They lent them a beautiful fire that had him pause briefly, before he continued. "It is if Sin never goes away. It is a lesson I learned early in my life. I too was a Summoner, and one who baulked at the final hurdle, at Zanarkand. Now, I have found a different calling."

"Kidnapping?" she asked wryly.

"No. Rather, I try to relieve the suffering of a people who are spat upon by the rest of Spira. You should know this better than anyone, for who amongst your friends on Besaid know of you having an Al Bhed mother?"

"…Lulu knows. So do a couple of others."

"Well, Cid sent us to fetch you. In any case, the Final Summoning is a sham." As she looked up sharply, he continued, "It is not only the life of a Summoner who is forfeit in the battle against Sin. Where do you think the Fayth of the Final Aeon comes from, hmm? They are born from a Guardian that the Summoner themselves chooses. Two futile suicides for the price of one."

As Yuna stared at him in understandable shock and the seeds of denial, Rikku came in. " _Okay, I've just contacted Father. Given what the Psyches have done, we'll head off now. If the Guardians get on board and put up too much of a resistance, then we let Yunie go, try to get her at the Moonflow or something._ "

" _What about me?_ " Seymour asked. " _If the machina you have won't stop them, then I can incapacitate them myself._ "

" _You sure?_ " Rikku asked. Upon seeing the resolution in his face, she sighed. " _Okay, but don't go too overboard out there._ "

* * *

Sure enough, Kimahri and Lulu boarded the ship as it began moving off, and had managed to destroy the Oblitzerator, a machina weapon derived originally from an ancient Blitzball training device. Seymour took that as his cue to emerge. Yuna, who had figured out what he had intended, pled with him not to hurt her friends. Seymour knew that he would have to hurt them a little, try and ensure that they submitted swiftly. But he would not kill them.

He saw Lulu's eyes narrow. "Where is Yuna?" she demanded.

"Safe and sound," Seymour replied. "But her Pilgrimage will end now."

"No. You will hand her over, now."

Seymour chuckled softly. "How determined you are to escort her to her own suicide," he remarked, before flinging his hand to the sky. "COME TO ME, ANIMA!"

An anchor dropped from the sky, seeming to pull out of the deck of the ship the eldritch form of Anima. Lulu's eyes widened. "That is no Aeon I have ever seen!" she exclaimed.

"Of course. Anima is unique to me," Seymour said. "Anima, I need them alive and relatively intact. Kindly knock them out."

" _As you wish, my son_ ," Anima said, her voice warping and flanging strangely, before she unleashed a pair of magical attacks that left both Lulu and Kimahri sprawled on the deck of the ship, unconscious.

* * *

He soon, with Rikku's help (and that of another Al Bhed), dragged the two Guardians to their new accommodation. Yuna gasped when she saw them being brought in. "What did you do to them?!" she demanded.

"I merely rendered them unconscious, Lady Yuna," Seymour said. "People tend not to listen to reason when a kidnapping has occurred. They have come to little harm. I apologise for this, but it has become a necessity."

"Is it a necessity to deprive hope from the people of Spira?" Yuna demanded indignantly. And understandably so.

Seymour, however, patiently said, "When I have told you what I know about the Final Summoning, then you may reconsider your words. We do not intend to deprive the people of Spira of hope. Rather, we intend to give them what they truly desire: a world free from Sin. You will understand, Lady Yuna, very soon."

Even so, he saw the defiance and anger in her eyes. Understandably so. But he and the Al Bhed he called brethren would not be swayed from their tasks any more than she would be swayed from the Pilgrimage. But swayed she must be, lest things end in her death…

 **CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And there you have it. This time round, the abduction of Yuna succeeds, and Lulu and Kimahri have come along for the ride. In case you're wondering what happens to Wakka, well, he'll join up with Auron.**

 **I'm glad to have gotten reviews for the first two chapters. And as for long-time reader and reviewer Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros, well, see above for Seymour's more drier snarks.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	5. Chapter 4: Captives

**CHAPTER 4:**

 **CAPTIVES**

Some hours afterwards, Seymour and Rikku came to visit their captives. All three were defiant, but resigned to being prisoners, for the time being at least. Even Kimahri hadn't made his move, though Seymour thought it was either Yuna or Lulu, or both, who had asked him to stay his hand.

When Rikku came in, she looked at her cousin, and asked, "Yunie?"

Yuna looked up, and frowned. "You're the one who brought me here."

"I'm your cousin, Rikku. My dad's your uncle Cid."

"I see," Lulu said. "It was Cid who decided to interrupt Yuna's Pilgrimage."

"Not just her Pilgrimage," Seymour said quietly. "That of every Summoner. Please, do not misunderstand us, we admire your resolve, but we believe that Sin can be destroyed without resorting to the Final Summoning. And I know all too well what the cost of it is."

Kimahri peered at Seymour, before remarking, in his bass rumble, "Kimahri know you. You are Seymour Guado. You were at Travel Agency helping Auron."

"Yes, at the Calm Lands, shortly after Lord Braska brought about the latest Calm. You had helped bring him there from Mount Gagazet. I am honoured that you remember me," Seymour said. "I apologise for the need to incapacitate you. It was more expedient that way."

"To kidnap us?" Lulu asked.

"Lulu, the price of the Final Summoning is more than the life of the Summoner. Believe me, I speak from bitter experience."

"I heard rumours that Maester Jyscal's son went on the Pilgrimage, and faltered at Zanarkand," Lulu said, apparently recognising him from his name. "Official reports say that you were drowned at sea. Reports of your death were clearly exaggerated."

"True, but I found it convenient not to disillusion anyone of my apparent death. My mother and I were sent into exile by my father. My only crime was being merely half-Guado. I consider myself an Al Bhed now. The Al Bhed, until I came along, had no Summoner to do Sendings for their dead. I perform a great service for them in doing so. I have no regrets in doing so." Seymour sat down, with Rikku sitting next to him. "You may not know this, but at Zanarkand, there is no Fayth for the Final Aeon. Instead, the Summoner must choose one of their Guardians to become the Fayth for the Final Aeon."

Lulu's eyes narrowed. "Is this a joke?"

"It would be one in considerably poor taste, if it were," Seymour retorted. "Lady Yunalesca herself resides in Zanarkand, as an Unsent. I have met her. For a woman who has been dead for centuries, she is disturbingly attractive, especially in what appears to be little more than a thong bikini. And before you ask again, Lulu, that is not a joke either. You have seen the statues in temples."

"I'd thought that artistic licence for the titillation of perverse priests and pilgrims," Lulu said.

"It wasn't. They are disturbingly accurate. My mother had accompanied me. She had known something of what it would entail, thanks to files my father had, and so, she volunteered willingly to become my Final Aeon. She was dying, you see, and thought I could use the Aeon to bring peace to Spira, and build a bridge between our people. Alas, I faltered, and made my way back to Baaj Temple in disgrace. A vicious storm blew up, however, and I nearly died, only to be rescued by Cid. This was before either Yuna or Rikku were born."

"That Aeon you used…on us…that was your mother," Lulu said.

"Yes. The Final Aeon does not kill the Summoner, unless it has been used against Sin. My mother, Anima, has been a boon to the Al Bhed and I. She is also one of the most powerful Aeons on Spira, if you'll forgive that such a statement smacks of hubris and hyperbole. I also have two other lost Aeons to call, Yojimbo, and the Magus Sisters."

"I remember Yojimbo," Lulu murmured. "It was…it was where…"

"My apologies," Seymour said. "I encountered Lady Ginnem's Unsent shade when I found Yojimbo's Fayth. I Sent her, if that brings any comfort to you whatsoever."

Lulu nodded, her eyes shining with the faintest of tears. "…It does. Thank you, for that much if nothing else."

Yuna, meanwhile, had been quiet, staring down at the table. After a moment, she said, "You said you intended to give the people of Spira what they truly desire, a world without Sin. How is that possible? Sin is born from our transgressions, isn't it?"

"We don't think so," Rikku said. "What Seymour told us about the Final Summoning got us thinking. We started going over what history books we could find, and try and find out more about Sin. We've found out a few things, some of which are obvious, others which are not. And there's a key piece of evidence Seymour has witnessed for himself."

"At Zanarkand, there is a massive wall of Fayth. I don't know for certain, but I believe it may have been the entire population of Zanarkand at the time of the Bevelle-Zanarkand War," Seymour said.

"But what could they possibly be summoning?" Yuna asked.

"I know not…but I have a truly appalling suspicion," Seymour said.

"And what is that?" Lulu asked.

"That Sin is no mere monster, but a massive Aeon-like creature," Seymour said. He saw that the gravity of such a statement took hold quite swiftly. Even the stoic Kimahri's eyes widened. He held up a hand to still their exclamations (not even protests), and added, "In the Bevelle-Zanarkand War, Zanarkand was noted for their Summoners, while ironically, Bevelle relied much on machina."

"We've developed this theory," Rikku said. "That Sin is actually like a really powerful Aeon, programmed to attack larger settlements, as well as machina. That suggests that machina might actually hurt Sin, assuming we can find the right machina. Or build it. The Fayth at Zanarkand may be sustaining it."

"I remembered my father mentioning once a figure called Yu Yevon, almost in awe and fear and utter reverence, as if he were Sin himself. We found but one obscure mention of Yu Yevon in an ancient history text, as Zanarkand's most powerful Summoner at the time of the Bevelle-Zanarkand War, as well as the father of Yunalesca," Seymour said.

"That can't be a coincidence," Lulu said with a frown. "So Sin is summoned back into being because the Fayth still exist."

"More than that. The Final Aeon always turns on its Summoner after Sin is defeated," Seymour pointed out. "We believe that the essence of Sin takes it over. The system of the Pilgrimage and the Calm is a self-perpetuating cycle set up by Yevon, or at least knowingly encouraged by Yevon. So our theory says."

"It's a theory that makes frightening sense," Lulu conceded.

"Kimahri has seen Fayth of Zanarkand," Kimahri rumbled.

Yuna, after a moment, asked, in a timorous tone, but one with flecks of anger throughout it, "Are you telling me that the sacrifice of my father…was in vain?"

"Ultimately, yes. It's a bitter pill to swallow, Lady Yuna, of that I have little doubt. The best thing one can say about the matter is that your father died doing what he believed he was right, for the people of Spira. And he bought us a long Calm, one which the Al Bhed, at least, have not been idle. I am sorry for this, I truly am. I felt the cold hand of sorrow and futility on my shoulder when I began to discern the true, Sisyphean(1) nature of the Pilgrimage. I could have fallen into despair, and with it, its cousin of nihilism, that nothing ever matters. But then, I realised I had many things that mattered to me. Rikku is a sister to me in every respect bar blood, and Cid has been a better father to me than Jyscal ever was. The Al Bhed are my people, and have been far more than the Guado were. And there was one thing I would take from the Summoner's Creed: that I am in service to all the people of Spira. I owe it to them to find a way to bring about an Eternal Calm. For if Sin may not be an embodiment of our sins, then it is a creature that can be destroyed. We only have to find out how."

Tears glistened in Yuna's mismatched eyes, one blue, the other green. Seymour regretted being so blunt, and wanted nothing more than to comfort her. But he thought such a gesture would be unwelcome. Rikku scooted around the table, and with Lulu, gently comforted the young Summoner as she wept quietly. He found it heartening that Lulu had no objection to Rikku doing so.

"Seymour make Yuna cry," Kimahri observed. Curiously, there was little reproach or anger in the deep rumble of the Ronso's voice.

"Hard truths have a tendency to make people cry," Seymour said. "As much as I detest seeing her cry, this was a hard truth that had to be spoken."

"Seymour…" Rikku said quietly.

After some time, Yuna seemed to gather herself. She said, quietly, "I want to see it for myself. Zanarkand, and Lady Yunalesca. I want to hear from her lips, not yours, that the Pilgrimage is a sham. I wish to make my own decision on this matter."

"Are you quite sure?" Seymour asked. "I would not be surprised if Lady Yunalesca did tell you: her great age and power has made her arrogant. I could sense it, hidden behind a mask of serenity and grace. But she can afford to be, for she is an Unsent of truly astonishing power. When my mother first became a Fayth, I actually attacked Yunalesca in a rage. She sent me flying into a wall with contemptuous ease, even for a woman attacking a child. In addition, when I first met Sir Auron, he said that his wounds had been caused by Lady Yunalesca. And Sir Auron had already become known as a powerful swordsman of no small renown, even if he had been excommunicated from Yevon. I would not be surprised if Yunalesca had slain Summoners and Guardians who objected to what she had them do."

"I will not sit idly by as a prisoner of the Al Bhed, as well-intentioned as you are!" Yuna snapped. "If everything I've learned from Yevon's teachings is a lie, then I refuse to let it stand! The people of Spira call out for salvation! I can't answer that call when imprisoned! Seymour, Rikku, I beg of you, allow me to continue the Pilgrimage, at least until I can discover the truth of your words! Please!"

Once more, Seymour was struck by the resolve burning in her mismatched eyes, the beauty it lent her. Demure and quiet though she was most of the time, she had an inner core of steel and fire that would be the envy of many a Summoner or Guardian. Idly, he wondered what would happen if she ever became a Fayth. The resulting Aeon could very well rival Bahamut, if not his own mother, in power.

After a moment, he said, in Al Bhed, " _Rikku, do you think we can persuade our father to allow this? Do you think he'll allow us to become her Guardians, to ensure she makes it there safely, and to ensure she doesn't die?_ "

Rikku snorted. " _He's stubborn, you know that. Where'd you think Brother got it from?_ "

" _It seems that Yuna inherited a similar stubbornness, though I daresay it was from both of her parents. How else could Lord Braska have decided to go on the Pilgrimage when he had been excommunicated for marrying an Al Bhed?_ "

Rikku chuckled, despite herself, before sobering swiftly. " _If I sell it to him right, if I can persuade him that we're going to be showing Yunie the truth about the Pilgrimage, then maybe Dad'll say yes. But even so, he'll think that going after Yunalesca will be a suicide mission, especially if we succeed, and Yevon take issue._ "

" _Very well. I will leave it in your capable hands, sister. And remember what I said to you about pestering him. Quality is better than quantity of nagging, as in many things_ ," Seymour said with a smile. Rikku merely poked a petulant tongue out, before leaving the room.

"Where is she going?" Yuna asked.

"If you are truly set on your course, then it would be most remiss to allow you to go without protection that my father, and your uncle, can trust," Seymour said. "If this is what you wish, Lady Yuna, then may we have the honour of being your Guardians as well?"

Lulu laughed, not quite in disbelief. "You abduct us, feed us a story that shakes the foundations of our belief in Yevon, and now you wish to be Yuna's Guardian? What a perverse day this has been."

"Of that, we are certainly in agreement, Lulu," Seymour said calmly. "Rikku has gone to persuade Cid to allow us to become your Guardians. The next stop in your Pilgrimage will be Djose Temple, will it not?"

"Yes, but…my other Guardian, Wakka…he was left behind in Luca. And I heard rumours that Sir Auron was in Luca."

Sir Auron, in Luca? This gave Seymour pause for thought. Auron was very badly wounded when he had been brought to Rin's Travel Agency in the Calm Lands. Seymour, who had been helping Rin, had done his best, but even the healing magic Seymour knew did little to help, and both Seymour and Rin resigned themselves to him not surviving the night. That he did, and managed to leave the Travel Agency without either of them knowing, was most astonishing.

"If need be, I will contact the Rin Travel Agency at the Mi'ihen Highroad," Seymour said. "I will have them send a Chocobo to him, free of charge, so that he can catch up. As for Sir Auron, we will have to wait until we know for certain. I would be glad to have Sir Auron with us, and apparently he is an acquaintance of someone we found. Lady Yuna, you knew Sir Jecht, did you not?"

"Yes, I met him a couple of times in Bevelle with my father," Yuna said.

"Did you know he had a son?"

"I…think Jecht mentioned his son once."

"We found him at Baaj not long ago," Seymour said. "His name is Tidus, and like Sir Jecht, he is a Blitzball player of not inconsiderable skill. He was playing with the Al Bhed Psyches in Luca, actually, though I doubt he was the one who had the bright idea of holding you hostage in exchange for throwing the game. What little I know of him suggests he would not have done so. Tidus spoke of Sir Auron visiting him at his home."

"Then…I would like to meet him," Yuna said.

A few minutes later, Rikku walked in. "Okay, I've just got off the radio with Cid. He says we're to keep you guys safe. We'll be heading to Mushroom Rock Road, to rendezvous with the others there, preparing for Operation Mi'ihen." She then looked at Seymour. "Seymour, it's been bedlam at Luca. The Psyches won against both the Aurochs and the Goers, thanks to Tidus. But then, Fiends started attacking. Tidus ended up fighting alongside Auron, and your father…he fought off the Fiends as well. Many of them singlehandedly. Auron and Tidus have apparently teamed up with Wakka: he's not happy, considering Tidus was with the Al Bhed Psyches, but Auron managed to vouch for him. Tidus spoke to Cid just before I called. He's opted to stay with Auron, and meet up with us later."

"Very well. Could you please contact Rin, and have him send three Chocobos to them? Then, they may be able to get to us on Mushroom Rock Road before they close it up. If not, then they will have to meet us at Djose Temple after Operation Mi'ihen is over."

"Sure."

As Rikku left, Yuna said quietly, "Thank you. Wakka is a dear friend, even if he is less than fond of the Al Bhed. And it would be good to have Sir Auron as a Guardian."

"Tidus would make a good Guardian too. His swordplay is more than up to the task," Seymour said. "I am not only an accomplished Summoner, I also know much of White and Black Magic. And Rikku is noted for her agility and swift attacks, as well as her ability to dismantle some machina enemies by merely stealing the right component."

"Then, I know we will accomplish much on this Pilgrimage, no matter what awaits us at journey's end," Yuna said. And once more, Seymour was struck by the beautiful resolve burning in her eyes. Nobody could stand in the way of that, he reflected. Nobody. Not Yunalesca. Not his father. And certainly not Sin…

 **CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, at long last, I have written a new chapter for this story. This was one of my more experimental works, and I was afraid that I might have to declare it abandoned, as I was struggling to get this chapter going. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Here's the latest chapter, and I hope you enjoy it. Hopefully, updates will come a bit more quickly.**

 **Now, before I get onto the mailbag section (well, the review-answering section), I thought I might do some shameless plugging.** ** _Vincit Qui Patitur_** **was the first of my 'pure'** ** _Final Fantasy_** **fanfics, but it was far from the last. Here's a list of them that have been published since. A couple are still in the earliest stages, and updates will be slow, but you may like them anyway.**

 ** _Final Fantasy VI: The Abridged Series_** **: Pretty much what it says on the tin. This is the plot of** ** _Final Fantasy VI_** **made whacky and cracky, with lashings of scatological and sexual humour. Although labelled as a 'pure'** ** _Final Fantasy VI_** **fanfic, the truth is, there are a lot of references to other games in the series, along with other cameos from other games outside the** ** _Final Fantasy_** **series. In the latest chapter, Terra finds out that she has posed nude for** ** _Chicks in Chainmail_** **, Edgar finds out that eating sandwiches made out of sand is inadvisable, and Locke's bandanna is haunted by the ghost of Solid Snake. Oh, and I lied about one of the above. Which one? Find out by reading the fic!**

 ** _La Vita Nuova_** **: A** ** _Final Fantasy VIII_** **fanfic rather like** ** _Vincit Qui Patitur_** **, in that it takes a rather tragic villain from the series, and gives them a second chance. In this case, it's Ultimecia, in a bizarre twist on the 'Rinoa is Ultimecia' fan theories. While investigating potential candidates to possess in the past, Ultimecia is killed by SeeD while hooked up to the Junction Machine Ellone. However, her soul ends up in the foetus that becomes Rinoa Heartilly. Haunted by visions of a dark future, the now-Sorceress Rinoa begins working to save her fellow Sorceresses from persecution, and soon finds herself working with the very people she despises, SeeD.** ** **Just had its third chapter completed, and will be posted alongside this one.****

 ** _Raison d'Etre_** **: My first pure** ** _Final Fantasy IX_** **fanfic, partly inspired by my third crossover with Harry Potter,** ** _Xenophilia_** **. Mikoto ends up on Gaia in the aftermath of the battle between Kuja and Brahne, thanks to a malfunctioning teleport on the Invincible. Stranded on Gaia, she finds herself forced to re-evaluate the very people whose destiny it is to die for Terra's plans, as well as her fellow Angel of Death, Zidane. And when Garland rejects her, it is a Treno scholar, a student of Doctor Tot's named Wedge, who helps her rediscover her reason for being.**

 ** _Zidane of Burmecia_** **: My second pure** ** _Final Fantasy IX_** **fanfic, and a surprisingly popular one too. It's an AU that has Kuja leaving Zidane at Burmecia rather than Lindlbum and Tantalus. Zidane grows up the adoptive sister of Freya, and becomes the royal bodyguard of Prince Puck, only to get involved in Tantalus kidnapping Garnet when sneaking into Alexandria Castle to see** ** _I Want to Be Your Canary_** **.**

 **Also, I would like to advertise my** ** _Doctor Who_** **and** ** _Final Fantasy VI_** **crossover** ** _Tuebor_** **, which has just gained its third chapter, and will gain its fourth chapter at the same time as this chapter is posted. It involves Jamie McCrimmon ending up in the world of** ** _Final Fantasy VI_** **, and vowing to protect Terra.**

 **Anyway, review-answering time!** **Colshan** **: I'm glad this one piqued your interest. I suggest some of my other fics. I mentioned** ** _La Vita Nuova_** **above, and if you want more humanised Ultimecia, try my Harry Potter crossovers, my one-shot** ** _Ultimecia's Knight_** **, and the longer** ** _Mnemosyne's Son_** **. I also bring in Jenova as a more interesting character in** ** _Harry Potter and the Cetra Heritage_** **. Yes, you heard that right.** ** _Jenova_** **. I also have a more humanised Sniper Wolf in my Harry Potter/** ** _Metal Gear Solid_** **crossover** ** _Broken Tools_** **and Lust in my pure** ** _Fullmetal Alchemist_** **fanfic** ** _Saligia_** **. I would have mentioned more examples, but you've already favourited them.**

 **Akuma-Heika** **: I've corrected the rather egregious typo, mistakenly calling Yuna's Guardians her Summoners. Lulu was Guardian to the Summoner whose Unsent shade you find in Yojimbo's cave, and you meet Father Zuke when you first come to the Calm Lands, if I recall correctly. And Yuna does NOT have the spiral pupil, just the green eye.**

 **CodeSHADOWx** **: The POV may switch to Rikku, Yuna, and Tidus, but the primary POV will be Seymour's.**

 **Guest** **: Yes, it would be an awkward first date. Their romance will be a somewhat slow-building one.**

 **1\. 'Sisyphean' comes from the legend of Sisyphus, a king in Greek mythology who, for a number of crimes (like violating the concept of sacred hospitality, and escaping the Underworld), he was forced to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity, with it rolling back each and every day, the epitome of futility. Just accept that Spira has a similar myth or something.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Calm Before the Storm

**CHAPTER 5:**

 **THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM**

It turned out to be surprisingly easy to explain away Yuna and her Guardians' presence at Operation Mi'ihen. The Yevonites, led by Maester Wen Kinoc, bought the story that Seymour and Rikku, moved by Yuna's determination, resolved to become her Guardians. Indeed, Kinoc even went as far as to provide Rikku and Seymour with Writs of Transit.

As he handed them the documents, the rotund Kinoc said, "The Al Bhed are not generally welcome in Yevon's Temples. Present these to any who object, and they won't be objecting for long. Not with my signature on them. I would suggest dressing differently. It'd help."

"Why're you helping us?" Rikku asked.

"It is rare for a Maester to give his assistance without a price," Seymour concurred.

"There's a few reasons. The first is that Lady Yuna is fast becoming known, and any assistance I can render will help her Pilgrimage go smoothly," Kinoc said. "The second is that, well, you told me to keep an eye out for Sir Auron coming down the Mi'ihen Highroad. Auron was an old friend of mine. The third is, having Al Bhed on the Pilgrimage might eventually convince some of your people to convert to Yevon, or at least open some small trade relations. I know you're the daughter of Cid." His face hardened. "That being said, do not abuse my indulgence by violating the precepts of the Temples. Follow the rules while in the Temples."

Seymour nodded. They were currently seated in a command tent, where the Crusaders and Al Bhed were planning the finer details of Operation Mi'ihen. Yuna, Lulu, and Kimahri were with them, while Brother was busy coordinating the setup of the machina weaponry, including the main energy weapon.

"Yuna! Lu! Kimahri!" That loud, boisterous tone could only be that of Wakka, who was staring in astonishment at them from the entrance of the command tent. "You're all right!" He rushed over and hugged Yuna in relief, then Lulu. "I thought you guys were lost forever, ya?"

"I told you they weren't going to hurt them," Tidus said, coming in, followed by Auron and a Crusader Seymour had met, one of the Besaid Crusaders called Luzzu. Rikku dashed forward and hugged Tidus. Seymour frowned, but not at the display of affection between his adopted sister and Tidus. Auron had aged rather badly since they had last met. And there was a strange smell that was emanating from Auron, something Seymour struggled to identify.

"Hey, you were with the Psyches, ya? I don't trust the Al Bhed," Wakka said, looking over at Tidus, who had finished his hug with Rikku. "Then again, you played a pretty mean game of Blitzball, better than the rest of them. The Psyches only won 'cause you were on their side, ya?"

"Wakka, we're all right. They didn't hurt us. These two, Rikku and Seymour, were planning to accompany us to Zanarkand as our new Guardians." As Wakka gaped, and seemed about to object, she glared at him. "They asked, and I accepted, Wakka. And Maester Kinoc has given them leave to accompany us. Surely you don't wish to contradict a Maester?"

After a moment, Wakka sagged in defeat. Auron approached Kinoc. Seymour struggled to school his expression when he realised what smell wafted from Auron. "It's been a long time, Kinoc."

"So it has, Auron. Where've you been the past ten years?"

"Do we have time for this?"

"Operation Mi'ihen won't commence until tomorrow morning," Kinoc said. "What were you doing over the past ten years?"

"Fulfilling a promise I made to a friend," Auron said, before looking at Tidus. "I still am."

"So, you are Sir Jecht's son?" Yuna asked, moving over to Tidus.

"Yeah. Sorry about that stuff in Luca. I didn't like what the Psyches did, either. I prefer to win without dirty tricks."

"He's a bit like Chappu," Wakka said to Lulu.

"Sir Auron, may I speak to you, please?" Seymour asked. _In private_ , went unsaid.

Auron nodded. "Excuse me, Kinoc."

* * *

Outside the tent, Auron then said, in excellent Al Bhed, once they were out of earshot, " _What do you want, Seymour?_ "

" _My apologies, Sir Auron, but…why are you still here?_ "

Auron stiffened, and his good eye peered over the lens of the sunglasses he wore at Seymour. " _In what way?_ "

" _Please, do not take me for a fool, sir. I remember that day when Kimahri helped you to the Travel Agency in the Calm Lands. Rin and I were surprised to find you gone, as your wounds were grievous, resisting even my Curaga spells. And even part-Guado like myself are sensitive to the scent of the Farplane…and to the Unsent._ " Seymour held up a hand. " _I will not expose you, as long as you are no danger._ "

" _A danger to whom?_ "

" _My people, as well as Lady Yuna and her Guardians_ ," Seymour said.

" _Your people being the Al Bhed rather than the Guado, of course_ ," Auron said. " _I remember that day you and Rin treated me for my wounds. I remember being shocked at finding Jyscal's son amongst the Al Bhed. I intended to bring Yuna to Zanarkand to show her the truth behind the Final Summoning, and Yunalesca._ "

" _I have told her that already, and our theories about Sin recurring thanks to the Final Aeon. She is still determined to see the truth for herself_ ," Seymour said.

" _I see. Then you have done something of a service for me, Seymour. I intend to make sure that Yuna does not perish using the Final Aeon. I wish for the Calm she brings about to be an Eternal Calm._ "

" _A lofty goal. But Sir Auron, I would like you to satisfy my curiosity. I know that the Final Aeon requires the sacrifice of one of the Guardians. I…haven't voiced this suspicion to Yuna, but now that I see you here, I need to ask…Sin is what Sir Jecht has been turned into, isn't it?_ "

" _Yes. I told Tidus in private shortly before leaving Luca, but the others won't understand. Not yet._ "

" _Rikku will. Sir Auron, do you think this operation will have any chance of success?_ "

Auron considered it, looking at the various machina, cannons, a massive energy weapon, and others. He looked at the Crusaders readying their weapons, and the Chocobo Knights preparing their steeds. He looked at the cages containing Sinspawn, which were meant to be the bait for the operation. Eventually, he said, " _I doubt it has even a slender chance of working. And Yevon will doubtless make political capital of it. They're allowing it to go ahead because they know it will fail. Hence why Kinoc is here._ " Auron scowled. " _Kinoc, a Maester of all things. When I knew him, he was in the Warrior Monks of Bevelle. We were friends at the time. But even now, I'm not so sure he can be one. He's changed, become a political animal._ "

" _People change over time_ ," Seymour said. " _Whether for better or for worse, they change._ "

* * *

"Rikku?" Yuna asked quietly. They were speaking together in a corner of the command tent, while Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri and Tidus spoke about other matters. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Yunie. What's that?"

"…Seymour…what is he like as a person?"

"What brought that on?"

"He…seems so serene and gentle…and yet…I can see he holds great sadness and anger," Yuna said. "And when he spoke to us of…those matters," she cast a wary glance at Kinoc, who was discussing something with an aide, before the portly Maester went outside, "he did so rather bluntly."

"Seymour's like that. He lost his parents at a young age, what with his mother becoming a Fayth, and his real father exiling him," Rikku said quietly. "But, well, he's a pretty cool big brother. I mean, Brother's all right, but Seymour…I look up to him. He holds quite a bit of pain from his past, but he tries to help people despite that."

"He turned aside from the Pilgrimage," Yuna said. "But he also helps your people, via Sendings."

"Yeah. He feels ashamed, even now, of turning aside from the Pilgrimage. He considers your father a great hero. I know he said those things, but he considers Braska a brave man. It's the sacrifice of the Final Summoning that he considers a waste, not the desire to stop Sin and alleviate the suffering of Spira. Actually, Yunie, I think you've done something to him, something good."

"What's that?"

"You've made him want to finish the cycle of Sin in earnest. Not that he didn't want to before, but you've gotten him to come with you to defeat Yunalesca. I think you gave him a concrete goal to work on, Yunie. Saving the Summoners and Spira was a bit of a diffuse, abstract goal. With you, though, he has a sort of concrete goal to work on. He has his dark moods at times. He told you how he nearly slipped into nihilism. The truth is, he's always in danger of that. Actually, it was his mother, the one who became a Fayth, who snapped him out of it. Life may have no meaning, she told him, but that doesn't mean it can't have meaning, a meaning he himself can impose. And he decided to fall back on the Summoner's Code, that they are to alleviate the suffering of the people of Spira."

"She can speak to him?" Yuna asked.

"He brought her Fayth back to Bikanel Island, and Home. He talks to her often. He's a bit of a mummy's boy, but, well, I don't hold it against him. To tell the truth, I like talking to her myself, especially now my own mother's dead," Rikku admitted. "There's also the Fayth of Yojimbo, which he mentioned. He also has another obscure Aeon, or rather, Aeons, the Magus Sisters. We'll try to go to Bikanel later, as it wouldn't hurt to have you have a couple more Aeons than the usual Pilgrimage ones. The Magus Sisters still reside at the Calm Lands, though."

"I'll consider that," Yuna said. "If Yunalesca is as powerful as Seymour indicated…"

Rikku shrugged. "Yeah. So, what d'you think of Tidus?"

Yuna, a little thrown by the abrupt change of subject, eventually said, "…Well, he's nice, I guess."

"Oh, more than nice. Seymour and I met him at Baaj. We went back there to salvage any supplies left behind, and lucky for Tidus, too, because he was stranded there. He claims to be from Zanarkand."

Yuna felt a slight thrill of surprise, but she remembered someone else who claimed such a thing. "So did Sir Jecht."

"Yep. His father. And the thing is, I sort of believe him. When we first met, Seymour and I had the idea of showing him some of the machina we couldn't identify. He identified some of it pretty quickly. All the same, Seymour's a bit…I don't know, what's the word? Not uneasy: Seymour's accepted Tidus pretty well. I think Seymour smelled something on Tidus. Guado have the ability to sniff out Fiends and Unsent, due to the Pyreflies. Tidus isn't an Unsent or a Fiend, but there's something about him that has Seymour concerned, though it's probably how Tidus knows so much about Zanarkand. Anyway, wherever Tidus is from, and whatever he is, he's good with a sword, and he's good with technology. He'd make a fine Guardian. Plus, he's pretty cheerful. Just don't talk about his dad. Jecht's not anywhere near like Jyscal, but he isn't winning any awards for parenting any time soon."

* * *

In a not-too-distant part of the ocean, the massive form of Sin sneezed, a great bubble shooting up from the depths of the ocean, until it burst on the surface in a vast fountain of salt water. A second bubble soon followed.

And somewhere, deep within the beast, what little was left of Jecht that could think lucidly, thought, _Someone's talkin' smack about me behind my back, and it ain't my crybaby son_ …

* * *

" _What is Tidus?_ " Seymour asked Auron.

The Unsent Guardian looked at Seymour. " _Why do you ask?_ "

" _He claims to be from Zanarkand, like Sir Jecht. When we first met, I smelt something on him. Not the scent of the Farplane or of Fiends…but something not unlike an Aeon. You and I both know that Zanarkand is in ruins, so unless he was somehow in stasis for a thousand years, which I am not ruling out completely…and yet, his tales of Zanarkand have the air of verisimilitude. He also spoke of you visiting him in Zanarkand, and I am not sure whether time travel is involved._ "

Auron harrumphed. " _You are not like most in Spira. You see much, and you hear much, and you think all too clearly._ "

" _Was that an insult or a compliment?_ "

" _Take it how you wish, though I intended it as a compliment. What Tidus is…is complicated. Zanarkand exists as it once was, even as it now lies in ruins._ " After a moment, Auron said, " _You have seen the Fayth at Zanarkand, the wall with all the bodies? That is what they dream of. Zanarkand, forever. The only way they could preserve their city from the onslaught of Bevelle. A city, turned into a dream for all eternity._ "

" _I had thought the Fayth at Zanarkand brought Sin into being_ ," Seymour mused.

" _You're not wrong. It does both._ " When Seymour whirled to face Auron, the grizzled Guardian said, " _Sin was created as a punishment against Bevelle, and all Spira, by Yu Yevon, the father of Yunalesca, for the destruction of Zanarkand. Even now, he exists at the core of Sin, an idiot god who deliberately sacrificed everything good and human about himself, whose only instinct is to destroy and survive. It is he who takes control of the Final Aeons, turning them into Sin, twisting their forms into armour, all so that he can exist to forever punish the world for Zanarkand's end._ "

Seymour, for a moment, was struck by the depth of Yu Yevon's hatred. To deliberately sacrifice one's humanity in order to inflict a perpetual punishment on all of Spira… Eventually, he said, " _What a magnificently petulant man. So Tidus is…what, a living dream given solid form?_ "

" _Indeed. I am risking much telling you. He doesn't know of the nature of his existence. Should he learn at the wrong time, it may prove disastrous. As it is, it is good that you told him about the Final Summoning early. Does Yuna know the truth, about Yunalesca?_ "

" _I have told her, Lulu and Kimahri, but she has resolved to go to Zanarkand regardless to see the truth for herself, and when Yunalesca confirms my words, she intends to avenge her father's senseless sacrifice. I intend to make sure she grows strong enough to do so._ "

" _That is my intention too, Seymour. Once Sin is gone for good, then I will allow you, or Yuna, to Send me. That is my solemn vow. I will remain in this world only as long as Sin does. But Yuna cannot face Yunalesca alone, nor as she is now. The forms of the Pilgrimage should be observed, if only to ensure she grows stronger._ "

" _I refuse to let her stand alone, sir. I will stand alongside her as we avenge not only her father's death, but the deaths of all of those caused by Sin, Yu Yevon, and Yunalesca. I have run from my failures for long enough._ "

" _True. But your mother is doubtless proud of you, along with your family amongst the Al Bhed_ ," Auron said. " _Seymour, I have not been idle during Braska's Calm, and I know you haven't been either. The problem at the time when you faltered was not cowardice, but your youth, as well as being confronted with the reality of what the Pilgrimage entailed. And you have done much for your adopted people. However, I will warn you: Jyscal has heard rumours of you still being alive and amongst the Al Bhed. Be prepared for him to try and intercept you at Guadosalam when we go through there. And keep your nose clear. The stench of corruption hangs around Guadosalam of late._ "

Seymour didn't need to be told that by Auron. But the knowledge that his father even dimly suspected his survival was unwelcome news indeed. He knew now that things were becoming even more complicated…

 **CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here we have it, the pre-Mi'ihen stuff. Seymour knows what Tidus is now, and the true nature of Sin and the Zanarkand Fayth.**

 **Now, the next chapter will be set just after Operation Mi'ihen, and like** ** _Cycle of Sin_** **, will have Paine recruited into Yuna's Pilgrimage, this time rescued by Seymour.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	7. Chapter 6: Postbellum

**CHAPTER 6:**

 **POSTBELLUM**

Yuna clung to Seymour, staring in horror at the aftermath of Operation Mi'ihen, a horror that Seymour shared. He did expect something like this, true, but this was even worse than he had expected. Bodies were strewn around the beach, and they were the lucky ones who even HAD a body left to bury. He remembered seeing Sin extrude part of an energy field around itself, turning it into a powerful shockwave that slammed into the Crusaders fighting the Sinspawn below. The moment when the Crusaders and Sinspawn alike disintegrated in a nightmarish strobing flare would forever be etched into his memory. It certainly took him long enough to blink the hideous image from his retinas. It was a miracle that any proportion of the Crusaders survived.

The energy weapon they used to attack Sin did little, and it was only Rikku and Seymour's actions that saved more of those trapped inside when it was destroyed by the massive beast. And there was, of course, the Sinspawn on the cliffs that had merged into a single hideous beast, one Seymour, Yuna, and the others had to fight off. Tidus had ended up running at the shoreline, screaming angry obscenities at Sin, shortly before the creature left, its lethal work done.

Seymour had to admit he was surprised at how readily Yuna turned to him for comfort, despite the circumstances under which they had met. Perhaps it was because they were both Summoners, and Summoners with similar pasts. Both hybrids, of a kind that would cause political tremors far and wide. If Yuna's half-Al Bhed heritage were to be exposed, she would find herself ostracised, even hindered and attacked by the Yevonites.

And perhaps she felt a touch of abandonment from her father. Lord Braska, from what Seymour knew, was a kind and noble man, and unlike Seymour, Yuna would probably have not said anything against him. But even so, for him to leave his young daughter to go on the suicide course of the Pilgrimage…

Seymour shook such unworthy thoughts from his head. By all accounts, Braska was worth a thousand of Jyscal, if not more. He would ask Auron about Braska's character later: Auron had known the man far more than anyone else, barring Yuna.

After enough time, where Yuna sobbed at the sight of so many dead bodies, she eventually gathered herself, and said, "I will need to perform the Sending for them."

"You will not do so alone, Yuna. We shall have to guide these unfortunates to their eternal rest on the Farplane together. We shall divide the area in two. I shall do one half, you shall do the other half." Seymour did feel somewhat uneasy revealing that he was a Summoner (and one dressed in the clothing of the Al Bhed at that) in front of anyone, which was why he opted to choose a quieter part of the battlefield. He had used Black Magic against the Sinspawn they had fought, but had refrained from using an Aeon. He still got the feeling that Kinoc knew who he was.

Still, even as a failed Summoner, he felt it was his irrevocable duty to Send the dead to their final rest. That would never change.

* * *

He happened to be near the passageway leading to the command centre, a crevasse, finishing his Sending, when he heard a commotion. First the sound of gunshots, and cries for someone to halt. He watched as a young woman with a distinctive quiff of silver hair and red eyes dashed out of the passageway, dressed in distinctive black clothing, and wielding a sword.

When their eyes met, on an impulse, Seymour indicated a small pile of bodies nearby. Grasping his meaning swiftly, she dashed behind them and hid, while Seymour threw himself to the ground, yelping in pain. Shortly afterwards, as Seymour made it seem like he was picking himself off the ground, Kinoc and a group of Warrior Monks appeared. "Did you see a woman with a sword?"

Seymour nodded, his eyes wide with feigned shock and indignation. "She's heading that way, for the Mi'ihen Highroad! She nearly eviscerated me with that sword!"

"Damn, if she gets a Chocobo, she'll get away!" Kinoc snarled. He nodded in thanks to Seymour, before dashing off with the Warrior Monks in tow.

After a moment, Seymour said, "It is fortunate that I had just finished this Sending. I may not have been able to help you otherwise. I would suggest that we rejoin my friends with all due haste, lest Kinoc find out he has been duped."

The woman stood up from where she had been hiding. "I'm surprised that you would help me," she said, her voice having a surprising maturity for her years. She was in her late teens at the most, he ventured.

"Being an outcast myself means that I have some sympathy for them," Seymour said. "We need to get going. Unless you'd like to stay here."

"No," the woman said, following him as he made his way back to where the others were waiting.

As they walked, Seymour asked, "What is your name?"

"Paine. You?"

"Seymour."

"Huh." That was all she said until they reached where Yuna and the others were waiting, Yuna finishing one last Sending, while Tidus and Wakka spoke to a surviving Crusader called Gatta. Then, Seymour noticed a scowl come over Paine's face. He was curious when he realised she was scowling at Auron, who was looking at her in mild surprise. She then strode up to him and sent him sprawling to the ground with a massive punch, emitting a brief scream of anger.

As Tidus and Wakka restrained Paine, Auron got back to his feet. "Tidus, Wakka, let Paine go," Auron said quietly. "I…deserved that."

"What? Why?" Tidus asked.

"Ten years ago, he left me, promising he'd be back," Paine said quietly, her voice full of bitterness, as the two men let her arms go. She made no further attempt to attack Auron. "Ten years ago, he left me and my mother without protection from my father. Didn't you, Uncle?"

Everyone present gaped at this revelation. Even Seymour stared.

"As I said…I deserved it," Auron said, chuckling painfully. After a moment, he said, "You've grown, Paine. Have you kept practising your swordplay?"

"…Of course."

"As touching as this heartwarming family reunion is," Seymour said, "we may need to make ourselves scarce ere long. Kinoc seemed to want her dead in a hurry."

"What?" Gatta yelped. "Why would he want the Crimson Squad dead?"

"What's the Crimson Squad?" Auron asked.

"Well, the rumours are that Kinoc wanted an elite group of the Crusaders under his personal control. I heard Paine was part of it, along with the Deathseeker."

"The Deathseeker?" Tidus asked.

"He means Nooj," Lulu said. "A famous member of the Crusaders, known for being reckless in battle."

"Look, I'll keep quiet about her being with you guys," Gatta said, "but you're right, you'd better head to Djose Temple before long."

"But if she's on the run from a Maester…" Wakka protested.

"Wakka. No arguments," Auron said. "Let's go."

* * *

Djose Temple had been turned into a makeshift hospital, where the injured of the Crusaders and even the Al Bhed were being treated by the temple's staff. When they saw Yuna and her group approaching, one of them said, "Lady Yuna! If you could help us with White Magic and…Sendings, we would appreciate it!"

"Very well," Yuna said.

"I am a White Mage as well," Seymour said.

"Well, the more we have, the better," the acolyte said, clearly not giving a damn that Seymour was with the Al Bhed.

* * *

Tidus and Rikku watched on as Yuna and Seymour went about their work, using healing magic on the wounded. Rikku felt that she and Tidus were getting closer, had been since they met a few weeks ago. It wasn't something she could call love yet, not by any means. Friendship, yes, a quickly blooming friendship. And it didn't hurt that he was pretty cute, and with a nice toned body. Not to mention that, while he didn't understand at a mechanical level how machina worked, he could identify them better, and had no qualms about using them. Doubtless Brother and her father would object, but she didn't care. And she knew that she was, in a way, an island in this strange new world he had been thrown into. How he got from Zanarkand in the past, though, she had no idea, especially if he knew Auron.

Paine stood next to them as they watched Yuna and Seymour. "She's dedicated," Paine observed, crossing her arms. "Then again, being a Summoner needs dedication, even if it's only to martyrdom."

"You don't like the Pilgrimage?" Rikku asked.

"Should I?" Paine asked. Then, surprisingly, in excellent Al Bhed, she said, " _You and I both know it's a suicide journey._ "

" _Yeah, but Yunie's been told the truth_ ," Rikku replied. " _We're still heading to Zanarkand so she can see the truth herself._ "

" _What truth is that?_ "

Tidus shrugged. " _The Final Summoning is a sham. Seymour reckons so, anyway._ " He had been a fairly quick study in the Al Bhed language. It helped that Rikku and Seymour were patient tutors. He tripped up over precise pronunciation rather than learning words.

" _Yes, I saw him doing Sendings. He's a Summoner too_ ," Paine said, her eyes narrowing. She then looked at Tidus. " _For some reason, you seem familiar. Do you have a brother or something who died?_ "

" _Uhh, no, only child. My mother died, and my father…is Jecht._ "

" _The Guardian of Lord Braska, alongside my uncle_ ," Paine said, looking back to where Auron was talking to Lulu and Wakka, Kimahri looking on. After a moment, she admitted, " _I recently encountered what may have been an Unsent, but with the ability to possess people. I thought I saw his real form briefly, and he looked a lot like you, Tidus._ " Paine had been given some introductions earlier as they fled Mushroom Rock Road for Djose Temple.

" _You're kidding me_ ," Tidus said.

" _Tidus, whatever that thing was, it took control over my friends and comrades and forced them to murder each other. Only a few of my friends survived_." Paine looked at Rikku. " _Gippal spoke a lot about you._ "

Rikku felt a sickening jolt at that news. " _Gippal? Is he okay?!_ "

" _The last time I saw him, he was running away from Kinoc's men_ ," Paine said. " _I think he was heading to the Mi'ihen Highroad. I think Baralai and Nooj were going to head the same way if they survived._ "

" _They will_ ," Tidus said. " _You know, the way you slugged Auron reminds me of the way I want to slug my old man._ "

Paine chuckled, almost mirthlessly. " _When my uncle disappeared, my father began stepping up abuse towards my mother. I was lucky to get apprenticed to a retired Crusader to learn swordplay. My mother was Auron's sister, and my father was a Yevon official, a petty man who thought his station was higher than it actually was. That was why Auron dropped out of an arranged marriage, as my mother had been married off in the same way. That's why he joined Braska, because Auron was disgraced for refusing the marriage._ "

" _So, are you going to join Yunie?_ " Rikku asked.

" _I want to ask a question first: are you going to let her use the Final Summoning against Sin?_ "

" _Hey, not if we can help it!_ " Tidus exclaimed. " _We want to stop Sin for good!_ "

" _Do you actually have a plan?_ " In the silence that followed, Paine scoffed bitterly. " _Impossible, insane, and idiotic._ " After a brief pause, she said, " _Count me in. Between Kinoc's cronies hounding me and Auron being here, I might as well stay. Besides, someone has to be the voice of sanity here._ "

Nearby, Seymour, Lulu, and Auron all sneezed simultaneously. As one, they looked over at Paine, all but sure she had been talking imprecations about them behind their backs. Paine just stared back impassively, her red eyes all but daring them to contradict her. They went back to what they were doing.

"Well, the more the merrier, right?" Tidus asked, slipping back into Spiran common.

"I'll just have to be the merriest," Rikku said with a grin, albeit one that didn't quite meet her eyes. They were, after all, in the middle of a field hospital for all these people from Operation Mi'ihen.

Paine rolled her eyes in exasperation. That being said, it was clear that she was going to be joining the Pilgrimage, come hell or high water. Of course, Rikku had to wonder, would Paine's joining them jeopardise their mission? And was Gippal all right? These were questions she didn't have the answers to. Not yet. But she hoped they could save Yuna. Or all of this was for nothing…

 **CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Paine's on the scene. The next chapter will be more at Djose, as well as the Moonflow.**

 **Now, Paine being Auron's niece was something I formulated for** ** _Cycle of Sin_** **, my Harry Potter crossover. I thought, why not re-use it, and her backstory? Paine is pretty much a blank slate in terms of backstory, and given her swordplay and similar demeanour to Auron, I find the connection irresistible, though making her his daughter is, while not impossible, a bit dubious, and certainly somewhat clichéd.**

 **No numbered annotations.**


	8. Chapter 7: The Journey Continues

**CHAPTER 7:**

 **THE JOURNEY CONTINUES**

Not long after Yuna and Seymour finished tending to the wounded, and Sending the dead, a Summoner who had been in Djose Temple emerged. A pleasant young man with brown hair and dressed in blue robes, his name was Isaaru, accompanied by his brothers, Maroda and Pacce, who were his Guardians as well. Seymour marked them, and discreetly told Rikku to send their descriptions to Cid via radio.

Seymour was actually irritated by Isaaru suggesting they make the Pilgrimage a race to see who would beat Sin first. "Isaaru," he said quietly, cutting off Rikku and Tidus' near interjections. "The Pilgrimage is a solemn undertaking with a dark end. Kindly do not cheapen it by turning it into a race."

Isaaru blinked, before he said, "It needs all the levity it can get. Otherwise, we're just going to Zanarkand with tears in our eyes. I cope in my way."

"Using levity to lighten your burden is an excellent idea, Isaaru, and I do not fault you for that. But to defeat Sin itself is a solemn task."

Isaaru peered at Seymour. "You are a Summoner yourself." It wasn't a question.

"Indeed. I…shied away from taking the final steps. Assisting Lady Yuna as a Guardian is what I intend as penance," Seymour said.

Isaaru nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Then I wish you the best of luck. And you too, Yuna. I hope that, whoever defeats Sin, it will be for a long Calm. Oh, before I go, I have heard rumours of Summoners disappearing, more so than is usual. Fiends and bandits do kill some, as does the journey, but…this is more than usual. Please take care."

* * *

Soon, Yuna and her Guardians went into the temple. As it was, Seymour and Rikku were allowed in with little protest, even without having to flash Kinoc's pass at them. But when they arrived, a rather unpleasant surprise awaited them: another Summoner came in some time after Yuna went into the Chamber of the Fayth, a rather haughty dark-skinned woman, accompanied by a musclebound hulk of a man. "Well, well, well, it seems that Yuna's entourage has swollen. Still favouring quantity over quality," the woman remarked.

"Whereas you seem to favour hubris over manners," Seymour remarked mildly. "You did, after all, just insult, amongst others, the former Guardian of Lord Braska."

"Are you Sir Auron?" the man asked, approaching the red-coated Guardian.

"Yes. What of it?"

"I am Barthello, the Guardian to Lady Dona," the muscled man said. "If I may…can I shake your hand, Sir Auron? You inspired me to become a Guardian!"

"Very well," Auron said, shaking the man's hand.

"Thank you very much, sir!" Barthello said with a grin. "This means a lot to me!"

"Barthello, stop gushing like a fanboy and get back here," Dona said, rolling her eyes.

Lulu came over, and whispered quietly to Seymour, "We encountered her at Kilika. She thinks Yuna is coasting on her father's reputation."

"I have sharp ears, you know," Dona said.

"And a sharper tongue, it seems," Seymour remarked. "Though it is downright dull compared to many I know."

"And what would a Guado playing at being an Al Bhed know?" Dona asked.

Seymour glared. "More than you think. Yuna is not elevated by her father's reputation, she is _burdened_ by it. I suggest you choose your words with more care, or do you enjoy seeing your rivals crushed? If so, I would suggest turning away from the path of a Summoner. It would reflect badly on all of Spira if a Summoner did it for their own personal glory than to alleviate the suffering of the people."

"How dare you!" Dona snarled. But at that moment, Yuna came through, sagging to her knees from the effort of gaining her latest Aeon, Ixion. "You owe too much to your father. All these Guardians, as well as Sir Auron. The world must look different when you're Lord Braska's daughter," she sneered.

"This has nothing to do with my father!" Yuna retorted as she was helped to her feet by Kimahri. "I am travelling on my own cognisance, as a fully-fledged Summoner!"

"Then try standing on your own feet, instead of relying on your Guardians for you. They can't beat Sin for you. They won't be able to help you when you use the Final Aeon," Dona retorted.

"You, Dona, are a disgrace to the Summoners," Seymour said too-calmly. "Yuna has more strength than you realise, and yet you never cease to insult her and us. And by doing so, you insult Lord Braska and his sacrifice. That only shows how _weak_ you are."

Dona snarled, but decided retorting would be too much trouble. She instead retreated into the Chamber of the Fayth, whereupon the door closed after her. "Game, set, and match to Seymour!" Rikku all but cheered.

"Rikku, we are in a temple," Seymour said. "Cheering my rather petty victory will have to wait until we are outside…"

* * *

They spent another day at Djose Temple, Yuna and Seymour healing the wounded from Operation Mi'ihen, and Sending the dead. Eventually, they left for the Moonflow after a night of rest.

It was Paine who, with her characteristic bluntness, brought up the Shoopuf in the room, so to speak. "Seymour, we'll be heading through Guadosalam soon," she said. "Are you ready?"

"I don't think I ever will be," Seymour said quietly.

"Huh? Whaddya talkin' about, ya?" Wakka asked.

Seymour, after a moment, sighed. Of them all, only Wakka wasn't in the know, though Paine seemed to suspect something rather than know the truth. Eventually, he gestured them over, and said, quietly, "My father is in Guadosalam. Maester Jyscal Guado. Wakka, I need you to keep this a secret. I may be recognised in Guadosalam, so I hope that we only pass through there, without any stopping, save for vital supplies."

"Why?"

"My father banished my mother and I to Baaj Temple when I was a child," Seymour said. "He wished to appease vocal elements of our society, as I am only half-Guado."

"So you're not Al Bhed?" Wakka asked in disbelief.

"I am Al Bhed in everything bar blood, Wakka," Seymour said sharply. After a moment, he continued, "My mother took me on the Pilgrimage. Unofficially, it is allowed to go to Zanarkand without obtaining any other Aeons along the way, as long as one has talent. My mother…became a new Aeon for me to defeat Sin with. But…when the time came…"

Wakka looked at Seymour in horror and sympathy. "Oh…oh, that's…I'm sorry, man. You choked, and…oh, man. How old were you, Seymour?"

"Ten years old."

"Damn…that's too young, ya?" Wakka said sympathetically. After a moment, he said, "Well, how did you end up with the Al Bhed?"

"The ship taking me back to Baaj foundered in a storm. I was found by Rikku's father, and, as far as I am concerned, my own father. His name is Cid, and he's the leader of the Al Bhed."

"Oh, so you two are almost like royalty?"

"Al Bhed society is more democratic than that. It took some time for me to be welcomed by them wholeheartedly, but…I felt more at ease, more at home, amongst them than I ever did in Guadosalam. And with me…they have a Summoner."

"We've never had anyone to Send our dead, Wakka, until Seymour came along," Rikku said quietly. "With his help, the Fiends attacking us have decreased in numbers."

Wakka, normally used to the idea of hating Al Bhed, found himself struck by that notion. After a moment, he said, "You guys are heathens, but even so…I can understand why you'd want a Summoner so much. And Seymour…if you want me to be quiet about who you are in Guadosalam, I'll do it, ya? I can tell it's painful."

"Thank you, Wakka. That is all I ask for," Seymour said. He frowned as a pair of Ronso approached. "Who are these?"

"Biran and Yenke," Lulu said. "I was with Kimahri and Yuna in Luca just before Yuna got kidnapped, and these two accosted him."

Biran sneered. "Oh, look! Kimahri's friends, following Summoner on all fours like hornless goatlings!"

"Hornless! Hornless!" Yenke jeered.

"You come to insult Kimahri?" Kimahri asked with a dangerous tone as the other two Ronso laughed.

"Wrong, we come to warn little Kimahri," Biran said.

Yenke nodded. "Summoners disappear. Never return."

"Next will be Kimahri's Summoner!" Biran jeered.

"Poor Kimahri! First lose his horn, then lose his Summoner!"

"Pitiful Kimahri! Howl alone, howl alone!" And with that, the two Ronso swaggered off, laughing.

"I think it is clear who is truly hornless," Seymour observed. "Showing strength is one thing, but bullying is another."

"Look, I'll help you kick their asses, okay?" Tidus said to Kimahri.

"Kimhari will deal with them. Alone," the Ronso said.

"Tidus, the Ronso have been rather insular about their affairs," Seymour said gently. "I would hazard a guess to say that they were the ones who broke his horn. It is a mark of shame, sadly, but Kimahri can expurgate that shame by facing them in combat, and prevailing. He will need to do so alone." He looked at Kimahri, and said quietly, "You are stronger than they say you are."

Kimahri nodded, but said nothing. "They're assholes, anyway," Tidus remarked.

A faint smirk twitched at Kimahri's leonine features, but again, he said nothing.

* * *

Tidus was amazed by the Moonflow, and to be honest, Seymour missed seeing it. It was truly beautiful, how the Moonlilies and Pyreflies interacted. Sadly, they couldn't linger and watch the Moonflow in the moonlight.

Tidus was even more astonished to see a Shoopuf, a massive, elephantine creature. Auron relayed an anecdote about how Jecht had gotten drunk once, and had attacked a Shoopuf, thinking it to be a Fiend. Jecht, in a fit of remorse, gave the Hypello all of his Gil, and swore off drinking. Tidus, on hearing that, had muttered something along the lines of it being 'too little, too late'.

They had another encounter with the Chocobo Knights, having seen them during the build-up to Operation Mi'ihen, as well as at Djose Temple. And while Seymour admired the drive of Captain Lucil and Elma, he did confess to feeling sorry for Clasko, who didn't have the energy and stamina of his superiors. He looked more like a scholar about Chocobos rather than a soldier.

They soon boarded the Shoopuf, and were crossing the Moonflow, when Tidus looked into the water, and saw a sunken city. Wakka and Lulu related the story of how it was built across the water, and collapsed, with Wakka claiming it to be a lesson, that man should not defy the laws of nature. And that when men have power, they seek to use it, going too far.

Seymour decided to add his opinion. "There are many kinds of power, Wakka. Machina merely amplifies power. And some machina can be used for good reasons. For example, medical machina. There are some things White Magic cannot do, after all. I agree that machina weapons have caused people to fight. You may have heard of the Machina War. Ironically, it was Bevelle at the time who used machina, and Zanarkand used it too, along with Summoners. While the precise details of what happened are obscure, the outcome is not: Zanarkand ruined, Sin appeared, and Bevelle renouncing machina, and becoming the centre of Yevon."

"And yet, you use machina, against the teachings!" Wakka said. "But that's what brings Sin!"

"In the opinion of the Al Bhed, Sin is not a concept given form, but a monster of considerable strength and power. But it is still a living creature that can, potentially, die. We believe it destroys machina because it _fears_ machina." Holding up a hand to forestall Wakka's protests, Seymour said, "Wakka, we will have to agree to disagree. Our goal is the same as yours: to keep Yuna safe as she completes the Pilgrimage."

"Why?" Wakka asked. "Why do the Al Bhed want to protect Yuna?"

After a moment's consideration, Seymour decided to tell a half-truth. "Cid knew Lord Braska. You may find it hard to believe, but Lord Braska was, at the time, disgraced for associating with the Al Bhed."

"This is true," Auron said, unexpectedly lending his support to the half-truth. "In a way, we all were. I was _persona non grata_ in the Warrior Monks for refusing a political marriage, partly because I saw what it did to my sister. And Jecht was ridiculed for claiming to come from Zanarkand. Three disgraces…and yet, we beat Sin. Seymour and Rikku's motives for helping Yuna are pure enough, Wakka. So are Tidus'. And I'd daresay that my niece wants to be a Guardian for the best of reasons."

Paine nodded. "I want to see Sin gone as much as anyone. You were right back at Djose, Seymour. Anyone who does it for personal glory has no business being a Summoner. Isaaru is doing it for the right reasons, but Dona…"

"We'll prove her wrong," Yuna said quietly.

Seymour nodded. "As I said to Dona, she thinks you elevated by your father's reputation, when in truth, you are burdened with it. Become strong in spite of that burden, Yuna. Do not let it crush you. You are better than that."

Yuna looked up at Seymour, and gave him a grateful smile. That smile…Seymour wanted to see it again. He wanted to see it for the rest of his life. And he hoped that there would be a time when Yuna would be able to smile freely, for the rest of a long and happy life, free from the pressures of Sin and the Pilgrimage.

Even so, he couldn't help but feel some foreboding. After all, he was coming back to Guadosalam for the first time in decades. And it meant coming into proximity with the man who had abandoned him.

Maester Jyscal Guado.

 **CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here you go. Now, in case you're thinking I'm being harsh with Dona…well, she's a bitch. She might not be as self-centred as Seymour thinks, but even so, she's a major bitch early in the game.**

 **As for Wakka, while I hate his obnoxious attitude towards the Al Bhed, I put these things in here to give him some more perspective. I think that, once he hears Seymour's story, and how much he means to the Al Bhed, and vice versa, he finds himself actually empathising with the Al Bhed a little. He doesn't know Yuna's half-Al Bhed yet, though (he knows Rikku is an Al Bhed, and Seymour is affiliated with them). But I think here, the groundwork has been laid to make him less of a dingus.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Kuroketsu** **: I'm surprised by your enthusiastic reviews, and I'm glad you enjoyed this story. Feel free to look at my other stories: I have a Harry Potter/** ** _Final Fantasy X_** **crossover called** ** _Cycle of Sin_** **. In fact, I seem to specialise in** ** _Final Fantasy_** **fanfics in general, especially crossovers with Harry Potter. I don't know whether I'm going to continue into the events of** ** _Final Fantasy X-2_** **(assuming I even finish this fic), but it will be a separate story in that case.**

 **Have a Little Feith** **: You know what? I'll consider doing a fic along those lines. But at the moment, I've got too many stories on my plate. I want to try and finish more fics first instead of merely starting more.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	9. Chapter 8: Oedipus Complex

**CHAPTER 8:**

 **OEDIPUS COMPLEX**

"So this is Guadosalam?" Tidus asked, looking around the strange space, almost like a cave made of plants. According to legend, the trees of Macalania Woods grew this home for the Guado. It was eerily beautiful, and had Seymour no issues with it, he would have felt more at ease here. Even now, the scents of life called out to him as they walked along the wooden paths.

"Yes," Seymour said quietly. "Many come here because Guadosalam has one of the few safe entrances to the Farplane. Many come to pay their respects to their deceased loved ones. Even so, we should not linger any longer than necessary. I do not wish to draw the attention of my father."

"Too late," Auron remarked, as an older Guado with green hair and beard approached.

"Seymour? Is that you?" the older Guado asked.

"You are mistaken, sir," Seymour said. He recognised the Guado: Tromell, the majordomo to Jyscal and his father.

"There is no mistake, Seymour. I recognise your scent," Tromell said. "Please, come with me."

"No, thank you," Seymour said. "I have business to attend to. I am escorting Lady Yuna on her Pilgrimage, and I cannot afford delay."

"Seymour, your father has been looking for you for eighteen years!" Tromell protested.

"Then he can look for eighteen years more and longer still. Good day!" Seymour snapped. But even as he turned away, he heard a too-familiar, and unwelcome voice.

"Do you truly hold such rancour in your heart towards me, my son?"

Seymour didn't turn around. Instead, his voice quavering with emotion, he said, "You do not have a son. Those were your words when you banished him, along with his mother, into exile on Baaj. And what is said, is said. I have nothing more to say to you, Maester Jyscal Guado, no more words, no other niceties, other than _good day_."

"I have not seen you for years, Seymour. I have heard naught but whispers and rumours," the voice of the man who sired him said in a sad voice that he didn't want to hear. The strong stench of some sort of perfume wafted into his nose. He found that odd: Jyscal had never used perfume before. "I have wanted nothing more for a long time than to speak to you. To apologise, to make up for what I did."

"Nothing you can say or do can make up for what you did to your son, Maester," Seymour said coldly. " _Nothing_." _Except_ _ **die**_ , a treacherous part of his mind whispered, nearly coming to his lips. _Die for me, my so-called father, and bring my torment to an end. Journey to the Farplane forthwith. Your time has long since passed_.

"My apologies, Maester Jyscal," Yuna said, trying to be diplomatic. "Seymour hoped to make his way through Guadosalam quickly, without any delay. He feels that this place has too many bad memories for him."

"I understand, but please, indulge a father who hasn't seen his son in two decades." A hand, HIS hand, came down on his shoulder, and Seymour tore it off him.

" _DON'T YOU_ _ **DARE**_ _TOUCH ME!_ " Seymour yelled, turning to face his father. "You are not kith or kin to me, Maester Jyscal! You forfeited that privilege when you sent your son and his mother to Baaj Temple! All for the appeasement of your people! You lacked the fortitude to stand up for the supposed loves of your life, the people you should have protected, and this is the price of that! You chose politics and appeasement over your own family. You _disgust_ me, Maester. You washed your hands of your son before, I don't think you have the fortitude to risk sullying them again by touching me."

A small part of Seymour, the part of him not blinded by rage, noted that his father looked even more aged than he had thought. So many lines and wrinkled. The hair was still the same vibrant blue as Seymour's, but there was just a hint that it had faded. The face was craggy, just as it had been before, and Seymour thanked whatever deities existed, cruel and capricious though they were, that he had inherited his mother's looks when it came to his face. He ignored the tears in the old man's eyes.

But he couldn't ignore what Jyscal said next.

"Then you leave me no choice, given that you have thrown my civility back in my face with contempt. I regret having to resort to such a base tactic as this, but I merely wanted to talk to you for a time."

"We cannot always get what we want," Seymour retorted coldly.

"True. But only a Maester can rescind a document issued by another Maester. And given your participation in attempting to kidnap Lady Yuna, that is grounds enough to rescind the Writ of Transit that Maester Wen Kinoc issued to you. I am willing to stay my hand on a simple condition: stay for a meal here. Talk to me, Seymour."

As Seymour gritted his teeth, he heard the distinctive calm tone of Auron, speaking coldly. "You play dirty, Maester. Your duty is to uphold the law, not abuse it and discard it on a whim."

"This is no whim, Sir Auron, but a father trying to make amends with his son!" Jyscal protested. "I will do anything to reconnect with him. I have neglected my duty, and it is past time I made up for that!"

" _Seymour…let's get it over with_ ," Rikku said quietly in Al Bhed. " _Do it for Yunie's sake, okay?_ "

Seymour emitted a strangled noise of annoyance and disgust, before saying, "I accept with all the respect such an offer is due." Few could mistake his careful choice of words, spoken in a resigned and tightly-restrained tone: even Wakka could tell that Seymour considered his father due little, if any, respect.

* * *

The manor of Jyscal Guado was very much as Seymour remembered it, albeit pervaded by that damnable perfume his so-called father was wearing. He didn't want to be around it for any longer than he had to: it felt like he was about to come down with an appalling flu, something he hadn't for years.

Still, there was a surprise when, as they came into the banquet room, tables lined with fruits and cold meats, Paine focused on a young man with dark skin and white hair. "Baralai?" Paine asked, scarcely believing what she saw.

"Paine?" Baralai asked in his turn, looking astonished. "Where did you end up?"

"Long story. Where's Gippal and Nooj?"

Baralai's handsome face clouded, a scowl touching his lips. "Gippal is currently heading to Bikanel. And Nooj…he shot us, Paine, in the back!"

"It seems that the infamous Deathseeker has taken leave of his senses completely," Jyscal observed.

"Who's this Nooj guy?" Tidus asked.

"He's a Crusader veteran, noted for his skill, and his recklessness," Lulu said. "Because he has a somewhat suicidal way of fighting, he is known as the Deathseeker. I told you this, just after we met Paine, remember?"

"Sorry, sorry, had a lot on my mind," Tidus said.

"Paine, doesn't he look a bit like…?" Baralai asked.

"Coincidence, probably," Paine said. "He's no Unsent. He is Jecht's son."

Jyscal raised an azure eyebrow. "The son of Sir Jecht, Guardian to the daughter of Lord Braska? I would consider that fortuitous indeed. Especially as it has arrived with the news that my own child is not dead."

Seymour felt like retching at the sentiment, even as he reached for a piece of fruit. Rikku did the same. "I've never known you to be a vain man, Maester Jyscal," Seymour observed. "Since when have you started wearing scent?"

"I suffer from Omega's Bane," Jyscal said quietly. "It is not something I normally advertise."

Seymour nodded. That made sense. Omega's Bane was a disease that caused weeping, foul-smelling sores to open on various parts of the body. Another noticeable symptom was a distinct smell of rotting flesh. It required frequent treatment, and the effects stayed with the person for years, if not the rest of their life. There was no known cure, and in some cases, it was fatal. To the sensitive nose of a Guado, the smell of someone suffering from Omega's Bane would be unbearable, so a strong perfume would be a boon. He knew he had once wished his father to be struck down with Omega's Bane. He felt no guilt in knowing Jyscal had been afflicted with it. In a small way, that disturbed him, the lack of guilt.

Auron looked over at Jyscal. "Your desire to see your son again aside, we cannot tarry for long, Maester Jyscal. Yuna is on her Pilgrimage, after all."

"You must forgive me, Sir Auron, but I have not seen Seymour for years."

 _And if I had my way, you would not see me, even to your dying day_ , Seymour thought bitterly.

"I was told by Kinoc that you were with Seymour," Jyscal said, turning his attention to Rikku. Seymour had to stifle the urge to put himself between Jyscal and Rikku. "You are Rikku, the daughter of Cid, are you not?"

"Yep."

"It heartens me that an Al Bhed would help Lady Yuna on her Pilgrimage. Then again, many Pilgrimages are unconventional."

"This one more than most," Seymour remarked, sniffing a fruit, and, noting no drugs or poison on it, bit into it.

"Do you trust me so little?" Jyscal asked.

"Do you really find that so hard to believe, Maester Jyscal?" Seymour asked.

"…No. Being confronted with the reality of the matter, though…my son, preferring the company of the Al Bhed to his own people."

"The Al Bhed have treated me far better than my own people, as you put it, and I do more good among them than I ever would if I had been allowed to come back from Baaj. I did not want to come back here. Only the trees that form Guadosalam are friendly to me. If the Guado have changed for the better, then it is too late for me, and certainly for you. I am of the Al Bhed now, not the Guado. Wishing for it to be otherwise would be like expecting time to run backwards, or for me to vanquish Sin merely by snapping my fingers."

After a moment, Jyscal seemed to nod resignedly. "It is as I feared. Therefore, my resolve is set. Lady Yuna? May I speak to you in private? If you wish, you may bring one of your Guardians with you. The Ronso, perhaps."

Yuna nodded, albeit bemused by the request. Kimahri came with her, looking at the Guado Maester warily as they were taken out the back.

"What was that all about?" Rikku asked.

"He's up to something," Auron said.

"I agree," Seymour said.

"Hey, I know you got issues with your father, but he's a Maester, ya?" Wakka protested.

"So was Kinoc, and in any case, you saw Jyscal blackmailing Seymour into coming here. Even a father truly desperate to see a child would not threaten to disrupt a Pilgrimage, Maester or not," Auron said.

"True," Baralai said, "but he has offered me sanctuary from Kinoc. It may be with ulterior motives, if he wants to outmanoeuvre Kinoc in Bevelle's politics, but even so, I'd rather be with him than Kinoc. Sir Auron, if I may ask, where have you been since Lord Braska vanquished Sin?"

"Fulfilling a promise to Jecht. I still am," Auron said. "I am here to protect and guide both Braska's daughter, as well as Jecht's son, Tidus."

Baralai walked over, and peered at Tidus. "Another who believes that he comes from Zanarkand's glory days?"

"You tell me," Tidus said.

Baralai smiled. "I encountered Sir Jecht as he left Bevelle with Lord Braska and Sir Auron. In terms of character, he was somewhat unimpressive, a loud, uncouth braggart."

"Yeah, that sounds like my old man, alright," Tidus said.

"And yet, he helped save the world from Sin. I hope you do well on your journey, Tidus. Paine, are you going to continue with them?"

"Yes. Are you staying with Jyscal?"

"I'm staying in Guadosalam for the moment. Maester Jyscal is heading to Macalania Temple, and then to Bevelle. I'm safe, or at least safer than the norm, here than anywhere else in Spira, from Kinoc, at least. Paine, take care. Especially if you see Nooj or Kinoc."

At that moment, Yuna emerged, Kimahri in tow, with Jyscal following behind. She looked perturbed. "You have time to consider my proposal, Lady Yuna," Jyscal said. "I will wait until after you obtain Bahamut at Bevelle's Temple before I expect an answer. But I must leave for Macalania Temple soon. Then, after that, I will go to Bevelle to await your answer. A good and safe journey to you all." He made the Yevon sign of prayer, one Yuna, the ever-pious Wakka, and Baralai made. As they left, Seymour only spared Jyscal a brief glance.

* * *

"I will go to the Farplane," Yuna decided as they walked out of the manor. "I need to…reflect on this."

"What did he say to you, Yuna?" Seymour asked, worried that Jyscal had made her an offer she was not prepared to consider. Had the old bastard actually given her a literal proposal? "What was this proposal he spoke of?"

They halted. And then, Yuna quietly admitted, "He offered to become my Guardian. He told me about the Final Aeon, I had to act surprised. And he offered to become that very Final Aeon."

 **CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that's a turn-up for the books. Now, for those of you wondering, Jyscal will be taking Seymour's place as the key villain of this story (apart from Sin and Yunalesca). While he has differing motives, his intentions are the same. We'll see what the differing motives of Jyscal are when he is revealed as the villain. The perfume is significant.**

 **Incidentally, I'm sure a few of you will think that Seymour is being rather overly petulant and angry, albeit justifiably so, towards Jyscal. Seymour in this story may be a good guy, but he is far from perfect, and his daddy issues, like Tidus', is one of his bigger flaws. If anything, he holds greater hatred towards Jyscal than Tidus ever did towards Jecht, as noted in their conversation. Tidus never really seriously considered patricide, while Seymour has.**

 **Review-answering time!** **diagonalpumpkin** **: As much as I hate his bigotry, Wakka is far from beyond redemption. He's quite blinkered. However, you notice hints of a questioning attitude quite early on, when he remarks to Tidus that he hates the people living today paying for the sins of the people in the past. What he needs is perspective, and Seymour and Rikku are giving it to him early on. I think, while he's still not fond of the Al Bhed, he's realising at this point that they're people like him, and not just heathens. And he thinks Seymour does good work for them: I think even Wakka wouldn't begrudge a Summoner reducing the amount of Fiends plaguing the Al Bhed.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	10. Chapter 9: Sins of the Fathers

**CHAPTER 9:**

 **SINS OF THE FATHERS**

In another timeline, Rikku would have been astraphobic, or, in other words, she would be afraid of thunderbolts and lightning. However, in this life, the marine Fiend attacking her had been hit with somewhat better precision by Seymour, and while Rikku wasn't fond of lightning, it just made her slightly jumpy as they traversed the Thunder Plains. She stuck close to Seymour, but that was it.

Even so, disquiet filled Yuna's party during their journey across those blasted plains to Macalania. Jyscal's proposal filled them with concern. And after a brief time on the Farplane, communing with the spirits of her parents, Yuna still seemed uncertain.

Yuna asked to stop at Rin's Travel Agency, halfway across the Thunder Plains. She said she needed to gather her thoughts. Auron, reluctantly, agreed. Upon arriving, she asked Rin, who happened to be there, for a room to discuss things. She asked Auron, Lulu, Tidus and Seymour to come in with her.

In the room, Yuna sat on the edge of the bed, and put her face in her hands. Lulu sat next to her, putting a comforting arm around her adoptive sister. Yuna didn't weep or sob. Instead, she just seemed to need to gather her thoughts, before discussing them.

"I needed to talk to you about Jyscal's proposal. I brought you all in because…I trust you and your opinions."

"Not Wakka's? Or Kimahri's?" Lulu asked.

"Or Rikku?" Seymour asked.

"Or Paine?" Auron queried.

"You barely know me and Seymour," Tidus pointed out.

"I know, but…Seymour knows more about Maester Jyscal than any of us. Tidus, given where you claim to come from, I would like a fresh perspective on the matter. Lulu, you're my dearest friend, the nearest thing I have to a sister, and you are truly sensible. And Sir Auron, you guarded my father, and I value your experience. In addition, both you and Seymour know what awaits us at journey's end, at Zanarkand. And after my discussion with Seymour when the Al Bhed took me from Luca…I find myself disquieted. Is the Final Aeon truly the only means of destroying Sin, even temporarily? And…while I may not be aware of everything in Yevon politics, it seems odd that a Maester would give up his position so that he may become the Final Aeon. So, I wanted others' thoughts on it."

"You're right," Auron said. "It is odd that he would give up his position to become the Final Aeon. In all likelihood, his successor would be a Guado, and yet, I know of no Guado who would be able to fill the position, save perhaps for Tromell, at a stretch. He may have wanted to entrap Seymour in the position, but while the climate might be right for a half-Guado Maester, the same cannot be said about one who is known to live with the Al Bhed."

"Indeed," Seymour said. "It is most puzzling. So too is that perfume. I know he said he suffers from Omega's Bane, but I find myself wondering whether that may have been a lie."

"You think the worst of your old man, don't you?" Tidus asked.

"Alas, yes. I shouldn't, but I cannot take away the ardour I feel, any more than you can, Tidus."

Tidus looked over at Auron. "Hey, Auron…can we tell them about…my old man?"

Auron looked at Tidus, before eventually saying, "Very well, but I will."

"What do you mean?" Yuna asked.

"There is another factor we should concern ourselves about when it comes to Jyscal's offer. I cannot tell you all the details yet, as you may not believe them. I know the truth of what I speak, a truth Seymour and Tidus knows. Part of the reason that Sin returns is that its core essence hijacks the Final Aeon. That is why the Final Aeon invariably turns on its Summoner after Sin has been vanquished. The Final Aeon becomes the core of a new Sin. And the current Sin is…"

"Sir Jecht," Lulu breathed quietly, her eyes widening in realisation. "Sir Jecht chose to become Lord Braska's Final Aeon, and is now Sin."

"Yes. Jecht has been almost completely subsumed by the core essence of Sin, the parasite that exists within the monster. It is part of the very mechanism that keeps the cycle of Sin, the spiral of death, going."

"And Yevon…they allow this?!" Yuna demanded. "But why?"

"False hope given to the people," Seymour said. "It's a powerful drug. They also hope to appease the parasite that is Sin's soul."

"And Jyscal, being a Maester of Yevon, would know this," Auron said. "So either he is attempting a strange form of suicide to expiate his sins, or…"

"He wants to become Sin, instead of my old man," Tidus said.

"Why would he want to?!" Yuna demanded.

"I have no idea," Auron said. "But I have heard whispers and rumours of Jyscal's increasingly nihilistic and despairing attitude behind closed doors. The news of your death, Seymour, mistaken though it was, hit him hard. He certainly became ill with stress, and mounted expeditions to try and find your body, to no avail. He even went as far as hiring the Guado Glories to try and dive down to the wreckage, but the ship had sunk into an abyss even they couldn't go. There were even rumours that Jyscal had died himself."

"I know. Rikku and Brother baked me a cake," Seymour said.

"Even now, publicly, Jyscal is known to not be in the best of health," Auron continued. "If you refuse his proposal, Yuna, be prepared for him to meddle in the Pilgrimage further. He did, after all, threaten to invalidate the Writ of Transit. Many of those in power abuse that power, and Maesters have more power than anyone, save for Sin and Yunalesca."

After a time, Yuna said, quietly, "Thank you all. I think we should alter our travel plans a little. Seymour, can we arrange passage to Bikanel Island with the Al Bhed?"

"Rikku and I can contact them, yes. Why?"

"I have a feeling that I may need the assistance of your mother," Yuna said. "If Bevelle and Yevon is as dangerous as you believe, then I would have as strong an Aeon by my side as possible before I head to Bevelle to obtain Bahamut. And Jyscal did say that I had until I reached Bevelle to give him an answer. If he does try anything, it will probably be then."

"Assuming he does try anything," Lulu pointed out. "Attacking the daughter of Lord Braska will have far-reaching political ramifications, and even if he declares you a traitor, it may not stick if Grand Maester Mika objects, or Kinoc or Kelk Ronso."

"Maester Kelk Ronso is indeed the most sane of the Maesters," Auron said. "He may be a political animal, but he is also an honest person. And you are right, Lulu. For all we know, Jyscal's reasons for becoming the Final Aeon may be benign. He may merely want to end his life in a blaze of glory."

"I doubt it," Seymour said.

"True, but your views of him are tainted, Seymour," Auron said. "Understandably so, and I am suspicious of him too. All I am suggesting is that we treat this situation with due caution. Tidus, it goes without saying that you do not speak of this to anyone else. Wakka is very traditional with his views, as you have seen already. The others are fine, but if Wakka hears the wrong word at the wrong time, he may react badly."

"Sure, I've got it, Auron. But if this Jyscal guy does turn on us, what do we do?"

"Run or fight, depending on the circumstances," Auron said. "Once we're in Macalania Woods, we may have to stop briefly. I think there may be something Tidus needs to see…"

* * *

Outside, in the reception area of the Travel Agency, Rikku was talking to Rin, albeit in Al Bhed. " _It is good to see you safe and sound, especially after Operation Mi'ihen, Rikku. These others are aware of you being an Al Bhed?_ "

" _Yes._ "

" _I'm surprised. Mr Wakka there is not a fan of us, nearly refusing to use the services of my travel agency on the Mi'ihen Highroad_ ," Rin said.

" _He's not happy, but…I think he's accepted us. Auron and Seymour managed to convince him that we're concerned about Yunie's safety because Lord Braska was once close to the Al Bhed. I mean, it is the truth, more or less._ "

Rin nodded. " _And your father and brother?_ "

" _We convinced them that Yuna is only going to continue the Pilgrimage to find out the truth about the Final Aeon for herself. They aren't happy, but they've accepted that. To tell the truth, I think Seymour's a little smitten with Yunie._ "

Rin nodded. " _Oh, by the way, we've managed to get two more_ ," he said, in a quieter tone. " _One called Dona, and another called Isaaru. They're on their way to Home as we speak._ "

" _Okay._ "

* * *

Sometime later, they had made it to Macalania Woods. They had encountered Barthello, the Guardian of Dona, who was panicking, as his Summoner had disappeared. Thankfully, nobody really noticed the furtive look Seymour and Rikku exchanged.

Then, they found what Auron had mentioned, a grove filled with the liquid spheres were made of. They then had to fight a massive amorphous monster known as a Spherimorph. Seymour decided to cut that battle short using Anima, deciding that they couldn't waste too much time on such a troublesome Fiend.

Afterwards, a sphere was left on the ground. "This looks old," Wakka muttered. "Dunno if you can play it back, ya?"

"I think you can," Auron said, picking it up and handing it to Tidus. "This was Jecht's."

Tidus, after a moment, activated it, the others gathering around. They watched as a young Auron and Braska left what seemed to be Bevelle at night, with Jecht using the sphere to record it. Seymour had to laugh, inwardly, at Jecht's naiveté, and Auron's far more straitlaced attitude. Then, there was one where Braska was taking footage of Auron standing next to Jecht, at what had to be Lake Macalania, Jecht jeering at the reluctant Auron, asking if Auron was afraid he'd bite.

"What's the point?" Tidus murmured. "He wasn't on a pleasure cruise, like you said, Auron."

"Jecht didn't know about the nature of the Final Aeon, that it would kill the Summoner. That's why he made that remark about a parade when Braska came back. He wouldn't learn for a while," Auron said.

"There's more on the sphere," Rikku said, touching one of the buttons on the side.

The footage revealed was taken of the very location they were at. There was a shot of Jecht sitting cross-legged in front of the sphere. He looked unusually pensive. " _Hey, Tidus. It's me. Yeah, I know. You don't wanna see me. Even so, if you're sitting here, watching this, well, it means you're stuck in Spira, like me. You may not know if you can get home or not, but…well, you'd better not be crying._ "

"I'm not, old man," Tidus said.

After a pause, Jecht said, " _Then again, I'd understand if you were. But…well, there's a time when you need to stop crying, and move on, Tidus. You'll be fine. You're my son. Remember that. And…uh…shit, I'm no good at this sappy crap._ " He got up, and walked over to the sphere, shutting the recording down. Then, more footage, and Jecht said, " _Anyways…Tidus, I believe in you. Be good. Goodbye._ "

"He sounded almost serious there," Tidus remarked as the sphere stopped. "Too little, too late."

"He was serious. I know he was," Auron said quietly. "He had accepted his fate. He always spoke of going home to Zanarkand. He took all those pictures to show you when he returned. He believed it a matter of _when_ rather than _if_ for a long time. But as he journeyed with us, and came to understand Lord Braska's resolve and determination…you must realise, Tidus, he joined us initially to get out of prison. He had been locked up for acts of public drunkenness, not to mention claiming he was from Zanarkand. He wasn't so serious about our cause. He just went along with it because otherwise, he would go back to prison, and he was hoping to find a way back home while he was travelling. But something changed. He changed. Jecht eventually decided to join Braska's journey to battle Sin in earnest."

"So…he gave up going home?"

"That was his decision, Tidus," Auron said. "…He loved you, you know."

"Bullshit!"

"He didn't know how to express it, Tidus. And I will admit that your father didn't have much of a handle on what paternal love was, or how to be a parent. But he tried. I just thought you should know before we head on."

Seymour saw the conflicting emotions warring on Tidus' face. "Are you telling me the same for my own father?" Seymour asked archly.

"I didn't know your father as well as I knew Jecht," Auron said. "When you've travelled alongside a man, fought alongside him, as long as I have with Jecht, then you have some measure of him at least. Jecht was a boastful boor, but he had more resolve and bravery than many men I have known in the Warrior Monks, Seymour. I think if circumstances were different, Jecht would be trying to make up for what he did with Tidus. He'd probably let Tidus hit him a lot, even. Jecht was not a complicated man. Jyscal, however…if he had reached out to you sooner…would you have forgiven him?"

The bluntness of the question pierced through Seymour. It took him some time before he admitted, "I don't know. But whether I forgave him or not, I would never return to Guadosalam. The Guado are not my people. The Al Bhed are. I certainly can't bring myself to forgive him now. Time has calcified my feelings towards him too much. I do not know whether that makes me a bad man or not, but I am not sure I care. Sad, is it not?"

With that, they soon went on their way. But it did disturb Seymour. Had he truly become too mired in hatred towards his father to consider any other feeling? And was he the lesser man for feeling that way?

He didn't know. And that disturbed him…

 **CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Just some filler for this chapter. The next chapter, when it comes out, will be at Macalania, and have Seymour and Tromell reconciling. So there's that, at least…**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	11. Chapter 10: Reconciliation

**CHAPTER 10:**

 **RECONCILIATION**

They contacted Brother, who promised to pick them up at Lake Macalania after their business was done at the temple itself. Cold comfort to Seymour, especially as Lake Macalania and the adjacent temple was one of the coldest places in Spira, barring Mount Gagazet. While he preferred the cool to the heat of Bikanel, at least Home was air-conditioned. But not refrigerated.

Tromell had turned up to escort them to Macalania, to Seymour's irritation, though the old retainer, he had to admit, was one of the few Guado who treated him and his mother with any kind of kindness. Old and traditional the green-haired Guado had been, but he had also been kind to the young Seymour, and to Anima. Tromell, at least, deserved some consideration.

Rikku nearly got barred from entering, but Tromell waved them through, and pointed out the Writ of Transit. As they entered the temple, Tromell asked, "Seymour…while I understand that you are acting as Lady Yuna's Guardian, may I speak to you alone? Lady Yuna has adequate Guardians to see her through the Cloister of Trials."

Rikku came over. "Hey, whatever you say to him, you can say to me. He's my big brother."

"Guado manage Guado affairs," Tromell said, albeit not unkindly. "Your people are also insular about their own affairs, are they not?"

"Not by choice," Rikku said. "I mean, given our use of machina."

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Rikku, Tromell," Seymour said. Having vented most of his anger on Jyscal, or at least that he had built up while in Guadosalam, he was at least prepared to be civil with Tromell.

After a moment, Tromell nodded reluctantly. "Very well. This might ease the minds of those who are uneasy about allowing an Al Bhed into the Cloister of Trials…"

* * *

While Yuna and the others disappeared into the depths of the temple, Tromell led Seymour and Rikku into a private room. "Your father has already departed from this temple, Seymour, for Bevelle," Tromell said. "Given your reaction to him attempting to reclaim you, he considered that most prudent."

"The first prudent decision he ever made regarding me," Seymour remarked archly as he sat down. "Tromell, do not ever expect me to forgive him. I feel that his decision to exile us hastened the end of my mother, exacerbated her illness. To forgive him now is for me to forget years of pain, to dismiss his betrayal of his so-called love, and his own flesh and blood. Even if he did not want me at Guadosalam, why send me somewhere so far away, and so isolated? Bevelle may have been friendlier than Guadosalam. Or Besaid. From what I understand, it is a truly lovely place, and Yuna's Guardian Kimahri was treated well, despite being a Ronso, and an outcast of his tribe for that matter. No, he sent us to a temple on a windswept rock in the middle of nowhere with nobody but a few servants as company. I sometimes wonder whether the illness that claimed my mother's life was actually a broken heart at what her love did to her."

"…And your people?"

"The Guado are not my people, Tromell. While I do not truly hate them, I am simply unable to think of them as my people anymore. I share their blood, but that is all."

"…Do you hate me, Seymour?"

"…When you approached me, yes, I did. Because I did not want to see Jyscal, or talk to him."

"But not because you blame me for your exile?"

"Tromell, you were one of the few people who actually tried to care for me, Guado or not. You are one of the only ones I do not blame."

Tromell smiled, tears running from his eyes. "Then that is all I wished to know, Seymour. While it saddens me no end that you and your father may never be reconciled, I am glad, even for selfish reasons, that you do not blame me. I can at least go to the Farplane when my time has come with one less regret." Wiping his face on his long sleeve, he then turned his attention to Rikku. "It also does my heart glad to know that the Al Bhed, heathens though they are, have been accepting of him. I am truly and sincerely grateful, Rikku, and I would ask you to pass along such thanks to Cid."

Rikku nodded. "Thanks, Tromell. Seymour…he's been a boon to us. We've had no Summoner, as you probably know…but leaving aside a Summoner stopping Sin…we have nobody to do our Sendings. Seymour is almost a hero to us, because he Sends our dead. And he's a good big brother too, you know."

"Our loss, then, is the Al Bhed's gain," Tromell said. "If Seymour is happy amongst you, then I accept that. He deserved a happy life after what happened. And I cannot begrudge the Al Bhed some relief from Fiends. We were often plagued by the same problem, even if we Guado can manipulate Pyreflies. I would not wish stronger Fiends even on heathens. And, of course, I am probably one of the few people who remember Lady Yuna's parentage. Lord Braska showed as much courage marrying his wife as he did when he faced Sin. Marrying a heathen does not necessarily negate one's faith, no matter what Bevelle thought. And the Al Bhed are still people, filled with the good and the bad, like any other people."

"I'm surprised, Tromell," Rikku said. "I thought no Guado liked us."

"Few do," Tromell admitted. "In a way, it was Seymour's exile, along with his mother, and Lord Braska's life, that helped me think this way, though it may be considered heresy by Bevelle. I may be old, but I am not blind or senile. When I see your people, when I heard of what happened at Operation Mi'ihen, while I despaired at your people and the Crusaders using machina and dying for their folly, I thought the sentiment to be absolutely genuine. Misguided though it was, the Al Bhed's desire to see Sin vanquished for all of Spira was sincere." Tromell then looked somewhat pensive, fidgeting somewhat with his long fingers.

"What troubles you, Tromell?" Seymour asked. He found his gentle tone towards the older Guado coming back, that same respectful tone he used to give Tromell when he was younger.

"Many things do. Your father…is a changed man of late. Our people are blinded by his reputation of being a great man, but as his majordomo, I see things that trouble me. Your father flies into these rages at the slightest provocation. I have heard him speak contemptuously towards many others. At first, I thought it the Omega's Bane, but…I fear something worse."

"Worse?" Rikku asked.

"Though I do not know what. Take care, Seymour. Your father holds the ear of Grand Maester Mika, and his words to you back home aside, I am not wholly convinced he is finished interfering with Lady Yuna's Pilgrimage. The same applies to you, Rikku. The Al Bhed, as you know, are rarely suffered in the temples of Yevon, and certainly not in Bevelle. Keep that Writ of Transit with you at all times. And I beg of you, be careful. There are undercurrents present of late that I do not like."

"We will be careful. I thank you for your warning and hospitality both, Tromell," Seymour said quietly.

Tromell nodded, and as they stood, he gave the Yevon benediction. Seymour, for Tromell's sake more than his own, matched it.

* * *

They had to wait a while for Yuna to finish getting Shiva. As they waited, Seymour found himself lulled to sleep by the cool air of the temple, and the gentle tune of the Hymn of the Fayth. He had to admit, he missed that song at least. And the one camp they had after leaving Guadosalam had made Seymour's sleep uneasy.

He recognised the place he was in all too well. Yunalesca's inner sanctum, deep within the Zanarkand Dome. A strange chamber like the ruins of an antechamber, floating in a star-riddled void. He'd seen it far too often in his nightmares, and resigned himself to one.

And there she was. Yunalesca. A statuesque, eerily beautiful woman dressed in little more than a thong bikini. Long silvery hair framed an aristocratically beautiful face from which a pair of golden eyes peered at him. Beautiful…but utterly lethal, and complicit in the Final Aeon, and with it, perhaps continuing the misery of Spira.

Usually, the nightmares began with Seymour screaming at her, raving about his mother's demise, and attacking Yunalesca in righteous anger, only for her to backhand him into a broken wall. That was where the memories ended, and the nightmare proper truly began (and a couple of wet dreams in his teenage years: for a dead woman, Yunalesca was disturbingly desirable). But instead, she was just peering at him, curiously.

"So…the Guado halfling is returning. I know you can see me, Seymour Guado. I know you can hear me. I know that you hate me, along with so many others, with an ardour that burns worse than a Flare spell. But I wonder who you hate more. Myself, or the one who sired you?"

Seymour couldn't reply, as Yunalesca turned away. "Your father seeks one thing. Something that you and I can agree that he cannot have. He seeks something I cannot countenance him having. He seeks to…"

* * *

"Seymour!"

The hissed admonishment from Rikku, along with her shaking him, brought Seymour rather roughly out of his dream. He blinked, to find that Yuna had finished, and had emerged from the Cloister of Trials, looking somewhat haggard, though she looked concerned for Seymour. "My apologies," Seymour said as he got up from the bench he had fallen asleep on. "My sleep was troubled last night."

Yuna smiled, albeit somewhat tiredly. "I can't find it in my heart to blame you, Seymour. How was your talk with Tromell?"

"It went well enough," Seymour said. "And I presume you now have Shiva at your disposal?"

Yuna nodded. "Let's go. We will speak more outside."

* * *

As they made their way from Macalania Temple, Rikku spoke on a radio, before nodding. "Okay, guys. Brother will pick us up near the Rin Travel Agency. Just fair warning, you guys, they will be using machina. They'll take us to a boat near the shore, and then from there to Bikanel Island. After Yunie's prayed to the Fayth there, we'll head back here, and then from Macalania to Bevelle, okay?"

Wakka scowled at the thought of using machina, but a look from Lulu had him stifling his protests. As they continued to walk, Auron asked Seymour, "What did Tromell want?"

"He wished to make amends. I decided that he at least should be given that much. My quarrel is mostly with Jyscal, not with Tromell. He did say Jyscal has been acting…irregularly of late. He also warned us that he is unconvinced that Jyscal is finished interfering with the Pilgrimage." After a moment's hesitation, he decided to use Al Bhed. Only Tidus, Auron, Rikku and Paine knew it of those present. " _And I had a strange dream while waiting for Yuna. In it, Yunalesca seemed to speak to me, as if in warning against Jyscal. She claimed that he was seeking something she cannot countenance him obtaining._ "

"Hey, whaddya talking about?" Wakka asked suspiciously.

"A nightmare," Paine said. "And hopefully not a portent."

Auron, meanwhile, frowned. " _That is disturbing. If Yunalesca was indeed speaking with you, and it wasn't your mind playing tricks…then why would she warn us about Jyscal?_ " he asked in Al Bhed.

" _And how can she be communicating with you, for that matter?_ " Rikku added.

" _These are questions I would like answered as well, though to Sir Auron's, I would wager that, if it isn't a trick of my mind, or of Yunalesca's, she must feel threatened by Jyscal as well. I don't know how or why she would feel threatened by him, though._ "

Auron harrumphed, before remarking, " _I wonder_ …"

Whatever Auron was thinking about, he didn't discuss any further. Instead, they made their way to the Travel Agency on Lake Macalania, where Brother and the others were waiting. It was this stage of the journey that would be one of the more dangerous ones, especially with someone like Wakka with them. But once they finished at Home, Seymour knew that an even more dangerous stage would begin: heading into the nest of vipers known to Spira at large as Bevelle…

 **CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here you have it. I wanted to have Seymour reconcile with Tromell, who is most definitely a good guy in this story (unlike in the game, where he acts, albeit understandably, in a rather nasty manner towards Yuna and company). Also, the whole dream link with Yunalesca will be explained later. I had considered that for Cycle of Sin, but decided against it. I wanted to have an opportunity to actually develop Yunalesca as a character. I had done so for Ultimecia for my** ** _Final Fantasy VIII_** **fics and for Jenova in my** ** _Final Fantasy VII_** **fics. Yunalesca will still be an antagonist for this story, but she will be helping Yuna and Seymour against Jyscal. As to why Jyscal is a greater threat, well, you'll have to wait and see…**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


End file.
